SubmittedThe columnist took this photo of a Carolina wren’s nest inside an old shoe. The other shoe in the pair contained a false, or decoy, nest.

If something unpleasant can be said about having a pair of outgoing wrens around your home, it’s the fact that the two will build a nest somewhere.

However, when they’re done with that initial nest, the lifelong pair will then construct another, then maybe a few more.

As I stood balancing upon a 12-foot stepladder cleaning out the second of two wren “decoy nests” from the tiny crevices in a row of recessed outdoor lighting fixtures, I felt a bit of disdain for the tiny rust-colored birds. Even if you are unfamiliar with either the Carolina or house wren – and the male’s high-pitched, treetop songs – you may be accustomed to finding the diminutive songbird’s calling card of false nests made out of tiny sticks in the oddest of places.

As a form of insurance against predation, or maybe just a method of claiming territory, a pair of wrens will make one complete nest for raising a brood and multiple false nests in such places as hanging flower pots, mailboxes, shoes, tool cabinets, old ball caps and just about any kind of birdhouse meant for some other species.

Avid nest-box managers occasionally have trouble with a particularly dark habit of the territorial house wren – egg piercing. Using their beaks, wrens will occasionally raid a bluebird box and destroy the delicate eggs by piercing the shell. A wren’s diet consists of insects, so they do not frequent feeders, but like many other types of birds that do make use of human handouts, wrens seem to be naturally tolerant of humans.

In fact, I can recall several instances of having Carolina wrens perch right on my knee or a knocked arrow, erratically shuffling about and making one of their shrill sounds of inquiry as I sat in a tree stand far from anywhere they might have encountered man previously.

Identifying a wren is not difficult, since they are uniquely different from most other local birds, and both males and females wear the same coloration. I generally notice far more Carolina wrens than house wrens in Bowling Green, especially during the winter months. As mentioned, wrens are very small, about the size of a chickadee, with the high head and tail carriage of a rooster. One of the most pronounced features are their fairly long, curved bills, which aid in catching swift bugs and a buff eye stripe around the heads of the Carolina variety. House wrens are more dull and brown in coloration.

Depending on who you ask, wrens may be considered a villain or a friend for their quirky habits and behaviors. Regardless of which they are, there is no denying that this is one little bird that makes a big statement wherever it goes.

— Geordon T. Howell is outdoors columnist for the Daily News. He may be reached by e-mailing highbrasshowell@yahoo.com.