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Something rare and interesting happened this morning. We caught a House Wren that we banded as a nestling last summer. This means we've known him since he was an egg (!), he survived his first migration (!!), AND he decided to settle and breed near his natal nest (!!!)...
It's incredibly rare to recapture wrens banded as nestlings, let alone get the opportunity to track their breeding. Each year we band hundreds of nestlings and usually 1-2 return the next year to breed. This could be due to dispersal, overwinter mortality, or both. We don't know.
We have multiple field sites spread across two counties. What makes this wren extra special is that he was hatched at a different site ~4 miles away from where he ultimately decided to breed. We are incredibly lucky that he dispersed but chose to settle where we could find him.
Each time this happens we have the opportunity to study multiple generations of the same lineage in the wild. This wouldn't be possible without longterm fieldwork and a ton of help from @OhioWesleyan SSRP interns, field assistants, and property owners that host our nest boxes.
We'll keep track of this bird this summer, and hope that some of his offspring return to the area to breed in the future. It's unlikely to happen, but we can dream! He currently has 5 eggs that are about to hatch.
