Winter Wrens
Wrens
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The Winter Wren is a very small bird, a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. It is the only wren which occurs in the Old World. In Europe it is commonly known simply as the Wren. The scientific name, meaning "cave-dweller", refers to its habit of disappearing into cavities or crevices whilst hunting arthropods or to roost.
Distribution: It is common in Europe, a belt of Asia from northern Iran and Afghanistan across to Japan, and North America. It is only migratory in the northern parts of its range.
There are around 27 Eurasian subspecies of this taxonomically complex bird, with around 12 more in North America. The disputed subspecies orii, the Daito Winter Wren, became extinct around 1940 - if it is indeed a valid taxon and not merely based on a stray bird, that is.
Thus in the British Isles, in addition to the typical bird, T. t. indigenus, there are two distinct insular forms; one, T. t. hirtensis, is confined to the island of St Kilda, and another, T. t zetlandicus to Shetland.
Recent DNA and vocalisation studies suggest that the subspecies in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, which has a harsher, more complex song, may well be a different species from the eastern North American and European forms. The latter two populations are also genetically distinct, but possibly not sufficiently to be split as separate species. This research did not include the distinctive Scottish forms. The small, stump-tailed Wren is almost as familiar in Europe as the Robin. It is mouse-like, easily lost sight of when it is hunting for food, but is found everywhere from the tops of the highest moors to the sea coast. Its movements as it creeps or climbs are incessant rather than rapid; its short flights swift and direct but not sustained, its tiny round wings whirring as it flies from bush to bush. It is a bird of the uplands even in winter, vanishing into the heather when snow lies thick above, a troglodyte indeed. It frequents gardens and farms, but it is quite as abundant in thick woods and in reed-beds.
At night, usually in winter, it often roosts, true to its name, in dark retreats, snug holes and even old nests. In hard weather it may do so in parties, either consisting of the family or of many individuate gathered together for warmth.
Description: The 9-10.5 cm (3.25 inches) long Wren is rufous brown above, greyer beneath, barred with darker brown and grey, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, the legs pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred. The plumage is subject to considerable variation, and where populations have been isolated, the variation has become fixed in one minor form or another.
Identification Tips:
- Length: 3.25 inches
- Short, thin bill
- Indistinct supercilium
- Reddish-brown upperparts (more reddish in eastern United States birds)
- Buffy breast with dark barring on belly and undertail coverts
- Wings and tail barred with black
- Very short tail frequently held upright
- Pink legs
- Sexes similar
- Frequently found very near the ground in brush piles, root tangles and along stream banks
- Similar species: Other wrens with indistinct superciliums are House, Sedge and Rock Wrens. Winter Wren is more reddish-brown above, darker below and has a shorter tail. Sedge Wren is streaked with white on the crown and back. Rock Wren is larger with a contrast between the gray back and brown rump and has buffy tips to the tail. The St. Kilda Wren is greyer above, whiter beneath, and with more abundant bars on the back; the Shetland Wren is darker.
Call / Song: When annoyed or excited its call runs into an emphatic churr, not unlike clockwork running down. Its song is a gushing burst of sweet music, loud and emphatic. It has an enormous voice for its size, ten times louder, weight for weight, than a cockerel. Individuals vary in volume as well as quality of song. The song begins with a few preliminary notes, then runs into a trill, slightly ascending, and ends in full clear notes or another trill. At all and any season the song may be heard, though most noticeable during spring.
Diet: For the most part small insects and spiders are its food, but in winter large pupae are taken and some seeds.
Nesting: The male Wren builds several nests, up to 6 or 7 in Europe, but fewer in North America. These are called "cock nests" but are never lined until the female chooses one to use. The normal round nest of grass, moss, lichens or leaves is tucked into a hole in a wall, tree trunk, crack in a rock or corner of a building, but it is often built in bushes, overhanging boughs or the litter which accumulates in branches washed by floods. Five to eight white or slightly speckled eggs are laid in April, and second broods are reared. The eggs of the St. Kilda Wren are marginally larger and often more boldly spotted; six is the usual number.
(Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org and USGS)
Related Web Resources: Love Song of the Winter Wren ... Winter Wren (Virtual Birding) ... Birds of Nova Scotia ... Greennature.com ... The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ... BBC.co.uk ... Birds of Britain ... Birdweb.org ... Mangoverde ... Kolkatabirds.com (photo)
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