Wow, it looks like she left you the mother lode there, Sherry! ;-) I think the most I ever had in a bunch was about 24. They're my very favorite caterpillar to raise. I love to put a few lengths of vine in a big storage container and watch the cats scurry along on their way to somewhere that I guess they have in mind. They always make it look like it's urgent. Ha. That's a Carolina wren for ya, building a nest in such a strange place. One year I had a pair build a nest on one of the shelves in my workshop after those little opportunists sneaked in there a few days when I had the door open and made themselves right at home. I didn't shut the door again until after the babies fledged. I have bluebird houses stacked up in our corncrib and one year the Carolina wrens made a nest in one of them even with it turned upside down. My dad had one build a nest in his fishing net one yet. Out of all of the birds that I get here, I call them the most eccentric. :) They sure are cute little things and they love the peanut butter/cornmeal/shortening mix that I put out in a log feeder for them in the winter. Cathy

It is just natural competition. Carolina wrens are harmless native birds, not invasive imports! It is illegal to disturb their nest. If the Carolinas are building, then the chickadees have already moved on. Anyway, I think they can enter with a 1&1/8-inch reducer. Why not put up another house? Maybe the chickadees will try again. I would be THRILLED to host either one or both. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/nestboxguide.htm

Thanks for the replies - so far the House Wren has not touched the surviving two Baby Blues - and momma and Papa are taking care of them. However - I can hear the Wrens all around, and I also am removing sticks from the other boxes around the property. I should have tried a Wren guard - however I have never put one on - so was worried about the Blues not taking too it. But if they nest again, I will for sure try it - after the first egg is laid. One a side note - we have a dead tree in our back yard - that a wood pecker bored a hole in, and must now have a nest in it. I saw her chasing the wren a way - but her nest is pretty high up. Also - we have a Phoebe nesting under our overhang - this is her second year. I went and checked her eggs out - and there was a Cowbird egg in it! We also had two robins nest near our house - both nests were robbed of their eggs - I'm thinking the crows got at them. Unfortunately no Chickadee nests in our boxes this year.. but probably best because of the Wrens..... seems like they arrived early this year. So did the humming birds.

I,too,am blessed with CAWRS all year around. A few years ago, I bought a wren house while up in the Ozarks made from unpeeled oak boards that was immediately adopted by the CAWRS. They raised a brood of 3 chicks and I was lucky enough to be eating my lunch on the patio one day when all three fledged within minutes of each other. They have nested there every year since and one or two always roosts over winter. They are such interesting birds to watch. They are bundles of energy and I think they have explored every square inch of my covered patio where I have their house just under the eave. They are very protective of their house, and will raise a ruckus when other birds get too close, regardless of size, but seem tolerant of human traffic.