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Re: [SHADEGARDENS] Wrens & Slugs

Clyde --

The books usually say that wren houses should be 8-10 feet off the ground.
The traditional "wren house" is a squat pentagon shape, with a slide out
bottom; these can be hung from a branch -- in a large shrub or small tree --
by a wire (not hanging on the end of a wire, just hooked to the branch).
Lately I've seen some surface-mounted boxes -- looking like half-sized
bluebird boxes -- sold as "wren houses" but I've never used one of those.

The trick to a wren house is that the hole needs to be the right size.  As I
recall, a nickel is the correct size for a wren.  That may seem small but
birds are mostly fluff; they can squeeze into pretty small holes.  The small
hole will prevent entry by the bane of all bird-watchers, English sparrows
(actually a finch) -- the wrens know that, too.

Wrens are tiny; perhaps 3/4 to half the size of our native sparrows.  Sandy
brown color with about a 1/2" beak -- the long, thin beak would distinguish
them from the seed-eating beak of a sparrow or finch.

If you put up wren houses, and go easy on the chemicals, they should find
their way to your yard.

Dean Sliger
Ferndale, MI
Zone 6B
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