Feeding the Kids

On a chestnut snag in the yard is a nest box that’s been the subject of a couple of posts on In Forest and Field. This year it was July before birds, a pair of house wrens, began using the box – surprisingly late.

The male often sang from the top of the snag or from a nearby fence that protects wildflowers from browsing deer.

Of course the male stuffed the box with twigs and the female took in fine material for the nest lining. Eventually eggs were laid and after the typical two week incubation they hatched.

The parents’ days of relative leisure were over as they made repeated trips to catch insects and spiders for their offspring. Sometimes the prey could be identified –

Sometimes not –

Each time the adult carried off a fecal sack voided by the young –

Eventually it was time for the young bird to look out at the wider world and prepare to leave “home” as the adults tried to lure it out –

Even though house wrens normally lay four eggs, it appears that only one young wren fledged from the box on the snag.

Our resident pair of cardinals also appeared to fledge only one young bird from each of their two nestings in 2026. And the pair of tufted titmice that frequents our yard only fledged two young this summer.

Young birds need protein to develop properly, protein that’s primarily derived from insects caught by their parents. Around the house it’s obvious that there are far fewer insects than there were years ago. The insect population in much of North America and in Europe appears to have plummeted in recent years and songbird numbers are said to be down by about one-third. What does the future hold?