Cactus Wrens' Nests
Cactus Wrens’ Nests
In regard to the unanswered question raised in Mrs. Bailey's article in the last CONDOR, as to the summer and winter uses of the nests of the Cactus Wren, I might say that as far as my observations have extended in the San Gabriel Wash, newnests are always built for the rearing of the young, this work starting in March. These nests are used through the winter, while those previously built in September and October are taken possession of by the young birds for the balance of the summer. Conditions are evidently quite different from those described as prevailing in southern Arizona, for I have seldom seen any attempt to repair a nest which has gone through the winter rains, the rainfall here amounting to perhaps 18 or 20 inches. I noticed one case, however, where the entrance had fallen in and a new opening had been made on another side of the nest. Ordinarily new nests in new locations are built shortly before the beginning of the rainy Season.
Robert S. Woods
Los Angeles, California, October 11, 1922
