Build a shelter box
by Marlene Condon
If you have a protected area, such as a porch, with a flat vertical surface high above the floor or ground, you should definitely have a shelter box for your Carolina wrens. I've had one on my porch for several years in a spot where I can see it from inside the house. "My" Carolina wrens sleep together in this box as soon as the weather turns cold. At the end of the day, as the sun is going down and the air is getting cooler, the male wren will sing from the brush pile not far from my porch. As he sings, the female will sometimes make sounds as she flits around him, or simply fly directly to the shelter box, oftentimes stopping at the porch railing first to be sure all's well before entering the box. She always enters the box first. Within a few minutes the male stops singing, looks all around, and then follows his mate to the shelter box for the night. The next morning I know when the wrens have left the box because the male greets the day with his beautiful song. Sometimes the female will chime in, although her song is more of a "buzzing."
Shelter boxes are available commercially, but it is not difficult to make your own. The idea is that the slanted roof and small front opening trap body heat inside. There is a dowel perch for roosting. Drill holes in the back of the box as necessary to attach it with screws to a vertical surface.
I decided the box would be warmer for the wrens if most of the front opening were covered. At first I covered one-third of the length of the opening by screwing a six inch block of wood to one end of the front. Sure enough, the wrens went behind the block for the night. So I added another six inch block of wood to the other side, leaving a six inch opening in the center. Again, the wrens entered the box for the night and disappeared behind the blocks. The box can be made fewer than 16-1/2 inches wide.
I think it's wonderful to have these wrens spending the night on my porch and visiting throughout the day to be sure their box is unoccupied by others. I love hearing the male sing loudly every morning and evening (even my husband, who is not a birder, says one Carolina wren is worth ten other birds because of his singing); the wrens brighten cold winter days. And these birds do not make a mess as most other birds do. They are an absolute delight to have around.
Download the specs for building the Carolina wren shelter.
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