Last Sunday at Blendon Woods Metro Park in Columbus, there was a Carolina Wren at the suet feeder and also foraging on the ground below the feeders. No one was paying much attention to the wren due to the Oregon  Junco that was also present.

I also have had as many as three Carolina Wrens visit my feeding station.  By far, their most favorite feeder is the mealworm feeder we purchased for bluebirds.  We have yet to see a bluebird anywhere near it, but the wrens have made it a great investment.  If you want to give the wrens a treat, I highly recommend mealworms.  Also, they regularly visit the homemade "marvel meal" (lard/peanut butter/cornmeal recipe) that we provide.  They also seem to appreciate the heated bird bath more than most other feeder visitors.  Can you tell that my backyard birds have it pretty good?

If anyone has had any success luring bluebirds to feeders, please let me know.

Robin,
What is the measurements of your suet?
Thanks,
Jill

We have had a pair of Carolina Wrens in our area for 3 years now.  We live in Medina County.  In the winter I mix equal parts of peanut butter, grated suet and cornmeal for a suet feed outside our kitchen window.  I see them everyday at this suet feeder.  They also visit another feeder that has
suet (not the cakes) that I get at our local market in the meat dept.  They are my favorite birds!
They sing all year long and in the winter it sure is uplifting to hear them singing!  They have such a distinctive song, I have heard them singing in other areas around Medina this winter.  We also have
the regular house wrens in the summer.
Kathy B
Lafayette Twp.

Last edited by KathyB2770 (2009-03-05 07:56:14)

It's not uncommon to see Carolina Wrens year round in Ohio. They frequent our hopper feeders at our house. We also have several bluebirds who frequent the hopper feeder closest to our house. We feed our private label Patio Mix (hulled seed blend) that we sell in the store, in the hopper feeder closest to our house, and the bluebirds have been there all winter. I start feeding meal worms and introduce calcium suet cakes in the spring to help with egg production.

I have the best luck with Carolina Wrens attracting with mealworms and a peanut butter-lard-cornmeal-oatmeal mixture.  This also attracts bluebirds and pine warblers.  It is very rich and can cause gout, so I feed it in moderation.

When desperate, Carolina Wrens will take sunflower chips (out of the shell) but I don't think they can crack the shelled seed easily.

Don't forget a water source.  You can get a much wider variety of birds to come to your feeding station if you have a fresh water available year round.

~Kathi
Clermont County, SW Ohio

I was thrilled to see my first Carolina Wren today at one of my sunflower feeder here in Westerville near Hoover.  I have a feeder just 3 ft off the ground under a cantilevered roof a (split level).  Deer discovered it and were emptying the feeder almost nightly when I had a birdseed feeder there so I switched to 3 side-by-side sunflower green tubes a month ago and the birds are just as plentiful.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I once put out a live trap with walnut bait to relocate some chipmunks and ended up catching a caroline wren twice (in '08).

I have also seen them at Blendon Woods nature center window under the suet feeders in the spring and summer this was over a year ago also seen eastern bluebirds there too

I have photos of the blue birds eating under a feeder at high banks in the snow this was new to my wife and I
pictures -  http://www.ohiobirder.mysite.com/photo4.html

Last edited by CBW (2011-10-06 12:26:52)