She has 77 nest boxes that needed to be checked to see what stage in the breeding cycle the birds were in.
Nest box for house wrens
Much to her surprise, the birds are breeding for the second time this summer. Many boxes had well developed nests (sticks and soft feathers) eggs or chicks!
5 house wren eggs in a soft bed of feathers
A 2 day old house wren chick with a feather mohawk!
The parent wrens are very protoective of their chicks. In a test of which parent is more invested in the chicks, Dr. Levin puts a rubber snake on the nest box and sees which parents takes more action. Males and females can be disguished because she has placed color bands on their legs; each birds gets a unique set of colors. I was amazed how the birds were scolding the snake and pecking at it!
Nest box with rubber snake and wren scolding from branch on the lower left side.
The field station is located in Mammoth, CA. It is one of the most spectacular places I have visited. There was still snow on the mountain tops!
May I ask a favor of you?
I post on Twitter as @wrenpile, which is an anagram of my name. Your photo of wren eggs in a nest would make a terrific image in my profile there. May I use it, please?
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