Wren question

[Ron Shaffer]

...Have a little friend in my garage, who never fails to make his presence known when I'm in there during the winter working on my gourd preparations. Normally he builds nests on the crossbeams and rafters in the garage.

Recently he...or she...has taken a fancy to one of the gourds I've been prepping for the martins. In the space of 2 days, he (she) managed to drag in a boatload of leaves, twigs, and other assorted fibers. Trying to offer it the option of nesting in one of the more delapidated, smaller gourds that I wasn't going to use anyway.

My question is...is this more likely a Carolina wren or a house wren?..I've really grown quite fond of the lil thing, it appears to enjoy the heat from my torpedo heater, and has very lil fear of me, bouncing around from crossbeam to crossbeam as I watch. Flies under the gap in my garage door...or in and out the side window if I leave it open.

Near as I can tell, he or she took up residence in my garage at least two years ago, maybe 3...I never see more that one at a time, so I don't think there is a pair....I'm located in southeast Ohio.....EDIt...it won't hold still long enough for a positive ID...or a pic that might be of help...I guess Bob would be as good a nickname as any..

[Louise Chambers]

It's got to be a Carolina Wren, since they winter in your area and House Wrens don't. They are charmers. Look for big white eyestripe to help ID.

[SMJohnson]

I had a Carolina Wren display the same kind of behavior.
Several years ago I was totally remodeling a house. Had it
completely gutted, including old windows removed and lath
and plaster off the walls. It flew in and started building a
nest in the insulation on one of the sidewalls.

[Dolphins Fan]

Yes definitely sounds like a Carolina wren considering your in Ohio and house wrens migrate south for the winter. I love those little buggers they are really cute birds! I bought an open front type of house for them this year and am going to mount it under the eaves of my porch and I hope they'll go for it.

They really seem to love nesting in protected areas like sheds, barns and yes even houses! They are great birds to have around because they eat a ton of insects and they are very mild tempered towards other birds. They like to eat suet and mealworms at feeders I've had a pair all winter eating dried mealworms!

I would definitely encourage them nesting as they are great for gardeners and a fun and friendly bird! If you don't want them nesting in your gourds you could make a box specifically for them. Go to http://www.nestboxbuilder.com/nestbox-plans.html you'll see a box called the Carolina wren slot nestbox it's really easy to build and the wrens should love it!

[RockyBrueseke]

They are cuties. I feed meal worms to them out of my hand.