A Bird in the Bush ... Or Outhouse?

 

We have some new guests at our backyard Airbnb. Thankfully, they don't seem to mind that their accommodations look like an outhouse.

Randy put up several new birdhouses this spring. He was really hoping the purple martin house - which kind of looks like a hotel - would attract some travelers who might want an extended vacation stay. So far, we are not getting "bookings" at our brand new facility. (He read about them online and proceeded as directed - away from trees and structures.)

So, if you have an "in" with the bird community, would you mind talking it up a bit? 

But some house wrens have taken a liking to our new one-bedroom apartments. And they are singing our praises - literally - even though we stuck them in the outhouse. The tiny little birds make up for their size with lots of trilling solos and duets.

The house wren is a very small bird of the wren family, Troglodytidae. It's the most widely distributed native bird in the Americas. Its name means "hole dweller" and is is a reference to the bird's tendency to disappear into crevices when hunting insects or to seek shelter.

I can attest to that tendency. It took several tries - and a lot of luck - to finally get a photo of the wren peaking out of its new digs. Both Randy and I were bound and determined to do it, though!

From Randy's cell phone

All About Birds says that wrens are "a plain brown bird with an effervescent voice with a rush-and-jumble song." We would concur. (I wish I'd thought of that description of its music.) I can even hear them when I'm in the basement through the office window. 

The bird's weight can be compared to the weight of two quarters. Hard to imagine, isn't it, that these tiny creatures can sing so exuberantly and flit from nest to branch so quickly?

Wrens aren't the only ones who make music. I play the piano for our church services most weeks. I try to tie the prelude, offertory and postlude music with the Scripture lessons that Pastor Benjamin is using. Ironically, last week, one of the passages was Matthew 10: 24-39. It includes:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 

Matthew 10: 29-33 

It brought to mind the old hymn, "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." It had a revival when it was featured in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. I played a version for my prelude music last Sunday.

There are full recordings of the hymn on YouTube, if you're interested. 

What a message, right?! When life seems overwhelming at times, it's a good reminder to take a breath. If Jesus has the birds of the air, he's bound to have me covered, too. That's worth singing about (or playing the piano about).

If You Build It, They Will Come

May 2021

"If you build it, they will come ..."

It's a dramatic moment in the classic movie, "Field of Dreams." We had our own "build it" moment last summer, when Kinley and Brooke visited the farm for a few days. One of our many activities included decorating bird houses.

Afterwards, Grandpa hung the birdhouses from the old windmill in the backyard. However, birds must have imagined a "No Vacancy" sign because none seemed interested in a stay on The County Line last summer.

Kinley's birdhouse met an untimely demise in one of this winter's windstorms. But Brooke's survived. And not long ago, Randy noticed that someone had taken us up on the offer of free lodging.

It doesn't appear that our visitor is the neatest housekeeper, since there are sticks and other paraphernalia sticking out of the sides and front.

We're not positive, but we think the visitor is a house wren.  (If someone knows for sure, please comment on their the blog or my Facebook page.)

I was taking photos of the birdhouse itself, when the occupant started flitting quickly among the trumpet vine that winds itself inside the windmill structure. The bird is small and has quite a singing voice. The Cornell Lab's All About Birds describes its singing as "rush-and-jumble song." It didn't seem very afraid of me.

Randy used the bird book that Jill and family gave him last year, but we still aren't sure about our ID. 

However, a bird watching website says that house wrens are common in Kansas. They have a short tail, thin bill, and dark barring on their wings and tail. Both males and females look the same.

The tails on our visitors seem longer than the photos showing the species. However, some of the information about house wrens seems to fit. Birdwatching HQ advices hanging a nest box in the backyard to attract the birds, since as they will readily use them to raise their young. The entrance hole’s diameter is not supposed to be any larger than 1 inch in diameter. By keeping the hole small, other birds can’t get inside to disturb the wren’s nest and babies. The website also says that house wrens are one of the only birds that will use a nest box hanging freely and not permanently attached to a tree or post.

We have added a bird bath in the back yard. So far, there haven't been many "swimmers" since the "pool" opened. 

The grape jelly buffet gets filled most days for our Baltimore oriole visitors.

Who wouldn't want to check in to our backyard accommodations?