Saturday, April 26, 2014

The First Male

The first bird was back this morning!  The wrens haven't started building nests yet but this morning one male was singing around the A field.  The first males to come back have their pick of territories and they often spend a couple days wandering around before they settle down.

I was only able to see one leg of bands, but based on the colors it's very likely this is the same male who nested in the same area last year.   Bk/wh, gn/al male was first banded as an adult during the summer of 2011 and is featured in my favorite photo of a house wren below.  In 2011 he had a rough time.  He built a lop-sided nest and tried for several months unsuccessfully to attract a female.  In 2012 he returned again and made two nesting attempts, but they were both eaten by predators.  Last year he was the second male to come back from the migration and things went much better.  He had two nests with the same female and raised one to fledging successfully.  He's leading the wave again this year and at least 4 years old he'll likely be one of the older males at the field site this summer.

    Bk/wh, gn/al male from 2011.  It's likely this was the first male I heard singing this morning.

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