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Helpful Tips

• Place the box under a tree limb at the woodland edge, with adjacent fields or wetlands. Install the box on a tree that is at least as wide as the box.
   
• It is helpful if there is a branch nearby for the young to climb out on, but the branch should not obstruct the entrance hole.
   
• Add 2–3" of wood shavings to the box.
   
• You can install a second nest box within a pair's territory as a backup in case the first nest fails. Second nests are almost always in an alternate site.
   
• Avoid disturbing nesting females during and shortly after egg-laying, as they may abandon the nest if disturbed early in the nesting cycle. It is best to wait at least one week, if not two, after finding a nest to check the contents.

SOURCE:  Nestwatch.org

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• Place nest box within 100' of woody vegetation, but make sure there is enough space around the box so the wrens can fly freely to and from the entrance hole.
   
• Male House Wrens typically defend more than one cavity, and may fill all of the nest boxes in the territory with twiggy "mock nests." Only one will be selected and used by the female.
   
• Both sexes may destroy the eggs or nestlings of nearby cavity nesters in the process of taking over a nest site, so it is a good idea to place nest boxes intended for other species at least 100' away from wren boxes and in more open habitat that is less attractive to wrens.

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• Nest Height should be 4-6 feet above the ground
   
• Position the nest box so that the entrance hole is facing east and towards open habitat.
   
• To decrease competition from Tree Swallows, you can pair nest boxes about 15–20' apart, with pairs of houses about 300' from each other.
   
• Clean out old nests as soon as a brood fledges so that the nest box can be used for a second nest attempt.
   
• If House Sparrows are a problem, consider drilling a second entrance hole beside the first one (so that there are two separate but identical holes on the front panel) to enable bluebirds to better defend boxes from sparrows.