Richard Moore Outdoor Report: Wandering Wrens

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Sometimes, it is the little things in life that bring a smile, and fortunately, you don’t have to look any farther than your backyard to enjoy entertaining wildlife.

Carolina wrens are year-round residents of the Rio Grande Valley, and these irrepressible songsters are notorious for selecting a variety of creative cavities as home sites.

One year, they nested in a hanging planter of pentas, and occasionally they use the various birdhouses provided, but usually, they are not satisfied with such ordinary domiciles and seek out more unusual locations to raise their brood.

A couple of times mail has been temporarily rerouted when wrens appropriated the old rusty mailbox hanging at the back door.

Rain or shine sleet or snow, airmail deliveries continue uninterrupted for several weeks until the young fledge.

This year they have once again selected the grinning countenance of a large ceramic sun secured on a wall in the backyard patio.

Throughout the day the parents come and go with a variety of insects for their young nestled within the beaming sun.

They are creatures of habit and nearly always enter through the right eye-opening and out the gaping mouth.

As they scour the yard for a variety of insects, the appearance of a plump wiggler also attracts a resident anole. The lizard quickly grabs the prey, but as it begins to devour the worm the meal is suddenly snatched away by a wren.

This happens so fast that you have to put the theft into slow motion to see what actually transpires. Yes, just as the lizard starts to consume the big worm it suddenly glances down in alarm, and in a flash, the opportunistic wren seizes the prize.

You couldn’t have a better pest control team on duty than a pair of Carolina wrens, and I just wonder where they are going to nest next.