VA Birders,
Yesterday, Wednesday, fellow bird club member, David Raines and I, Roger
Mayhorn, did the weekly check of the new section of the Buchanan County
Bluebird Trail. This section of the trail is in the Breaks community just
outside of the Breaks Interstate Park.
David, the trail monitor, had found a nest in one of the boxes the week
before, but had not made a positive I D as to which species was using it. We
observed a House Wren leaving the box and found that the tall nest of twigs
held six House Wren eggs. This was a surprise since we have never had a
record of a successful House Wren nesting in Buchanan County. We believe
that one reason for this is the lack of open farm land within the county.
Twenty-five years ago David had observed a male House Wren that built
multiple nests in nest boxes on his Breaks property, but in spite of that
male's singing he was never able to attract a mate. After a couple of weeks
the bird abandoned the area. That is the only record of a nesting attempt by
this species within the county.
When checking the next nest box, which was within about 50 yards of the
first, we found two House Wrens busy carrying twigs and building another
nest. This was especially surprising, since this species is so uncommon in
the area. After reading that male House Wrens are polygamous we believe that
this male has two females, one in each nest box. Only three birds were
observed.
While we are pleased to have a new nesting species within the county, we
wonder if these birds may be preventing bluebirds from using the nest boxes
in the area. We are aware of their reputation for competing with bluebirds
for nest boxes.
Roger Mayhorn,
Grundy, VA
mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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