Carolina Wren (SC)
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Species: Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
Location: Kiawah Is., SC
Status: Four Carolina Wrens fledge!
Location: Kiawah Is., SC
Status: Four Carolina Wrens fledge!
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July 16 - We learned from our South Carolina host that all four nestlings successfully fledged the nest today. According to our estimate, the birds would have been only 11 days old. Either they were early or they were actually older than we thought, since we never witnessed actual hatching. Thanks for watching with us! |
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July 14 - At nine days old, the nestlings are almost completely feathered. Carolina Wrens have a short nestling period relative to other altricial (helpless at hatching) cavity-nesters—only 12-14 days. |
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July 12 -Two of the nestlings look on as one of the young appears to try to climb out the entrance hole. Because the dome of the nest faces right out to the entrance hole, there is a greater chance that these young birds may try to fledge prematurely. |
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July 11 - The six day old chicks are growing rapidly and being fed a diet of insect larvae, crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders. |
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July 10 - By looking closely, you can make out the heads of three nestlings, although we believe there are four in the nest. Notice the dark upperparts and lower underparts where feather tracts have already emerged. |
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July 9 - The chicks are estimated to be four days old. Here, one is seen stretching out of the domed cup and begging for food with its red mouth lining and yellowish bill clearly visible. |
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July 8 - Eyes open on day 3. The greatest increase in growth of nestlings occurs between days 2 and 5—where they will increase their body weight by approximately 50% each day. |
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July 7 - One of the parents feeding young with a gaping mouth. This is one of the first images we have where the young are visible. |
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July 6 - The orientation of the female as she enters the nest cup is indicative of feeding posture, suggesting young in the nest. Although we haven't seen any nestlings, they are believed to have hatched either some time yesterday or today. |
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July 2 - Typically, Carolina Wrens spend an average of 70% of their time incubating eggs. This female is surely average or above average for the time spent on eggs. |
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June 30 - The female is sole incubator and has a single large brood patch on her belly. The male will often visit and deliver food to her, but to date we have not seen him. |
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June 29 - If you look inside the domed portion of the nest, you can see the female peeking out of it. While incubating, the female is a "tight sitter", and flushes from the nest only if forced to. |
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June 27 - At long last we get our first real glimpse of the female as she exits her domed nest and peers out the entrance hole. Notice the very distinctive white eye stripe above her eye. |
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June 26 - The female Carolina Wren has laid four eggs within the domed nest—the first egg date was June 17. Eggs are due to hatch on July 4. If you look very closely, you can see the secretive female at the bottom of the image, inside the dome. |
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June 22 - At the bottom of the image, you can see the distinctive striped, often cocked tail of the Carolina Wren. We are still uncertain as to the number of eggs buried deep within the nesting material, although typically the clutch size is four. |
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June 20 - This nest box was previously used by Eastern Bluebirds (Archive 2) and Carolina Chickadees (Archive 1). On June 17, a female Carolina Wren laid the first egg in this box. There should be four eggs in there now, hidden beneath the nesting material which includes dried grass, dead leaves, bark strips, moss, hair, snake skin, and pine needles, among other things. You can just make out the wren at the bottom of the image, through the entrance hole. |