Linda's For the Birds: Our Industrious Wrens
Carolina Wren.
All photos courtesy of Sue Puder
Waking up in the morning during June and listening to the birds sing is always a joy. However, if you are not really a morning person like me, and you miss all of the delightful birdsongs at dawn, you can still hear some birds that continue to sing throughout the day. I have wrens on the brain since they are nesting in my yard, so I thought I’d write something about three of the most common wrens you may see in our state.
If you supply a bird house, you may find one of the cutest visiting birds in your yard: the House Wren. This species has an exuberant song during the spring and summer months. Small and brown with a short upturned tail, this little powerhouse will sing for hours. Driven to build nests, the male wren will happily use a nest box or two or three. He will even go as far as destroying nests of other birds just so he can build his own. When the female wren arrives, she gets to choose which nest she prefers. Once this occurs, eggs can be laid and babies reared. But the singing doesn’t subside. Off and on all day the insistent song of the House Wren can be heard.
Last year I was fortunate enough to watch this ritual. I had two bird houses hanging close together, and sure enough, the male wren built nests in both. Eventually along came a female which inspected both and announced her choice by remaining in one. You might wonder what she was looking for. I did, too. My husband and I joked as she looked in each box. “Ah yes, there is enough room for a fridge and couch in this one” and onto the next, “No, this one will never do. We could never get all our stuff in here.” Whatever the bird requirements were I’ll never know, but the male had obviously gotten one right.
House Wren.
Chances are you won’t find this next wren in your backyard unless it happens to be a marsh. The Marsh Wren has a bubbly song that can be heard throughout the marsh grasses all day long during the spring and summer months. Another power builder, this wren will build several nests, but only use one. The nests are made from strands of grasses that are then woven, sort of like an elongated ball, around tall upright grasses. Eventually the nests dry out, turn brown and are easily recognizable.
Marsh Wren.
Another of my favorites (I know I have a lot of favorites) is a year-round resident. Have you ever heard a bird singing during the day in the winter and wondered what it was? Chances are it was a Carolina Wren. Its loud repetitive tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle is hard to miss. Its larger size, rust brown coloring and white eye stripe help differentiate it from the drabber, smaller House Wren.
Its tendency to break into song in the middle of the winter has always impressed me and I’m grateful for the serenade when the weather is dreary. I thought for sure last year they would choose one of my nest boxes but they preferred the corner of my neighbor’s house where the gutter met the eaves. Flower pots seem to be one of their favorite nesting places, but it is said that they’ll build a nest in a shoe, a can or anything that fits their needs.
If you are interested in learning more about these cheerful birds and listening to their songs, visit the below links:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marsh_Wren/id
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/carolina_wren/id
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Categories: Linda's For the Birds
Tags: house wren carolina wren marsh wren wrens Birding
Wonderful photos!
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