House Wren Arachnophobia

Filming this House Wren taking spider after spider after spider to her chicks started to get a bit creepy – at least for the suppressed arachnophobia that sometimes bubbles up from inside me!

At AllAboutBirds.com I read, “As the season progresses their nests can become infested with mites and other parasites that feed on the wren nestlings. Perhaps to fight this problem, wrens often add spider egg sacs into the materials they build their nests from. In lab studies, once the spiders hatched, they helped the wrens by devouring the nest parasites.” I wonder if, instead, they feel guilty about all the spiders they fed their babies and adding the egg sacs make them feel like they are contributing to spider sustainability. 😁

I added these last photos because the Wren wanted me to share that she is feeding a balanced diet. Just kidding. This little bird actually has both a grasshopper and a spider at once.

This video shows the House Wren arriving with food for the chicks and then removing a “poop sac” from one of the chicks, in order to keep the nest clean. She is fast at bringing the food, and there’s only a few minutes between her arrivals. Striving for genetic immortality takes a lot of work!