This is a nest I found inside the newspaper tube under my mailbox. Location is Charlotte, NC.
Posted Jul 1, 2014, 1:53 PM UTC
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My guess is Carolina wren. Pretty typical of them to nest in mailboxes (flowerpots, boots, etc) and the eggs seem to match.
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Thanks! I emailed an expert who also thinks it's a Carolina Wren.
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I wish we couldn't rule out Bewick's Wren, but that seems unlikely.
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Yeah, I wish we had Bewick's here too. I mean, Carolinas are fun and all, but how about some variety?
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Well, it is North Carolina after all.
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Location, nest composition, egg color and shape, and the color of the feather tufts just emerging on those little babies all point to Carolina Wren. This species is famous for nesting in inconvenient locations. Fortunately for you, the young grow very quickly, and they'll likely be out of the nest in under a week.
Here's some photos of a Carolina Wren nest in my garage this season (one photo per day).
Thank you very much. My wife just looked in on them a short while ago and they had flipped over onto their stomachs, but she says they don't appear to be moving as much as they were previously. We haven't seen any adult birds come back to the nest at all. I'm not knowledgeable at all about the situation so I'm just hoping they are OK.
Yes, they should be sitting on their bellies. Also, they likely won't move if a human is looking into the nest - the babies know that freezing still gives them the best chance of not being noticed. The adults are sneaky - watch for a mother to come near the nest with a mouthful of bugs.
Cool, that's good to know that they stay still. I'll keep an eye out for the mother.