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Monday, January 19, 2009

The Carolina Wren

One of my favorite birds to watch is the Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). These little spunky birds never seem to sit still. They will hop along and dart from one spot to another more often than they actually fly. They come across to me as a very curious birds, hanging out around the house, under the deck, peaking in flower pots and any other bucket or pail left outside.

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Another reason I'm especially fond of this little bird is its song. Although Carolina wrens are small, they are very vocal, especially the male. The male can be heard whistling any time of the day and any time of the year. Click on the link below to hear the song.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Carolina_Wren.html

If you have Carolina wrens around your house in the spring then their likely to have a nest nearby. I've noticed from my own experiences that their especially fond of hanging flower pots and will use whatever cubby hole is available to house its nest--holes in walls of houses, barns, under porches, holes in fence posts, or even nest boxes.

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One neat thing I learned recently is that a Carolina wren pair bond may form between a male and a female at any time of the year and will stay together for life.

Go visit Bird Photography Weekly #21 to see other great photos of birds.

17 comments:

Kim said...

Love your photo. I have a couple of Carolina Wrens in my backyard this winter. The only time they seem to sit still is at the peanut feeder. They love peanuts.

Anonymous said...

nice shot, we have wrens in this part of the world too, but i`ve never been fast enough to get a shot of one in the limited time they expose themselves.

Dave said...

I like seeing those wrens. They are fun to watch but very skittish. As Tom said they are hard to take pictures of!

Anonymous said...

We have never had them nest here, the House Wrens are probably too aggressive! But they are sure fun to watch. I love their sound too.

Great photos!

Arija said...

Lovely little Wrens, great that you captured the concert.

mick said...

Those are beautiful little birds! We have wrens out here in Australia too - different birds of course - but as you say they never seem to sit still and its a real challenge to get a photo. Great photos.

Chandramouli S said...

I can see why you love them so much! I'd love to have them here too. They sound sweet!

Anonymous said...

Hey Alan, you are right about wrens not spending much time in one place. We don't get Carolina Wrens here in the West, but we do have several other varieties that we enjoy tremendously.

There calls are all cheerful and they are fun to watch. You captured that little guy beautifully. Thanks for the information too, I didn't know that.

Les said...

I have heard that Carolina Wrens are very aggressive towards other birds and may even pierce other's eggs. Did I just imagine that or do you know if it is true?

BTW you may be interested that I saw 3 Sandhill Cranes at my parents place near Accomac. They were having a hard time dealing with the wind. I saw quite a few Snow Geese as well.

Alan Pulley said...

Hey Kallen,
I agree, they love eating chunks of peanut suet from my feeder.

Tom, Dave & Mick,
Yes, they are very fast. I was lucky to get some decent photos…

Birdfreak, Arija & Chandramouli,
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Larry,
Yes, they are fun to watch & very cheerful to listen to. Thanks for the complement!

Hey Les,
I think the bird you’re thinking about is the House wren. House wrens will do exactly what you said. There’re very territorial birds, especially during nesting season. Carolina wrens are nowhere near as aggressive, and as far as I know won’t destroy other bird nest. That's very awesome about the sandhill cranes! I would love to see some. I was in Chincoteague a few years ago and saw a lot of snow geese. Very cool experience. I hope to get out to the ES again soon. Looks we may get some snow tomorrow!!

Mary said...

Yes! I have two sharing a nest on my front porch now. They like being close to a house - under the deck, in the garage, in your FAMILY ROOM! Twice I've helped one back outdoors. I love love love them.

Ferociously guard their nests.

"tea kettle, tea kettle, tea kettle"

Heidi said...

Beautiful shots! They look like they're having fun singing on your posts.

Bob Kaufman said...

Wonderful shot of a Carolina Wren in song. You can almost hear the melodious notes.

Anonymous said...

Great shots! I had a Carolina Wren early in the winter, but I haven't seen or heard it for weeks. I love their song.

animtreebird said...

Very beautiful bird. Nice photo of the bird singing. :)))

Neil said...

Nice looking Wren lovely call.

Wai Yien said...

hey the bird cam is such an easy way to capture birds...but what is the thrill unless you use it on nesting birds with chicks...