Q: I didn't know what was going on, but I heard a ruckus outside and found a pair of house wrens harassing a young gray squirrel on my deck. The plucky birds had chased it all the way to the ground ...

While many birds curtail, so to speak, their nesting efforts during the summer, the house wren does not. They just keep going. Let's take a closer look at this clamorous, nonstop nester. This ...

To begin with, Marjory, I’m sorry to hear about your little bluebirds. The adults will likely re-nest, but it’s still no fun to find dead baby birds. I’m also sorry if I spelled your name wrong. After ...

Along the road the birds’ nests may be well hidden, but near the house, not so. Phoebes are back on the front door lintel; tree swallows are in the bird boxes we put up; barn swallows are in the barn ...

Where are your usual nesting house wrens and bluebirds? Same place mine are, I guess. We've neither seen nor heard a yard wren this spring; one nest here has been routine for years. The nest boxes I ...

Early this spring, I hung a small bird box from a pergola rafter ten feet from my kitchen window. I had high hopes that either Carolina chickadees or house wrens (both are cavity-nesters) would ...

Clean-out doors in the bluebird boxes at Hickory Grove Park were closed earlier in March. They were left open all winter to discourage deer mice and house sparrows from moving in. A few bluebirds hang ...

Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South. Spring is proceeding apace in this yard, despite my worst fears. For 28 of the 29 years ...