As I’ll be leaving a week from today, this will be the last Sunday bird collection by John Avise for a while. (And hold onto your photos until early April.) John’s notes and IDs are indented, and click on the photos to enlarge them.
Some Troglodytes
In general, a troglodyte is any facultative or part-time cave-dweller (troglobytes are obligate full-time cavernicoles). American wrens are small brown birds in the family Troglodytidae, a name that refers to their habit of nesting in cavities or in roofed globular nests built of sticks or grass (such nests are these birds’ part-time “caves”). In North America, nearly ten species of wrens can be found, most of which have beautiful and distinctive songs. Several of these highly active little sprites are the subject of this week’s post.
Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii:
House Wren, Troglodytes aedon:
House Wren artificial nesting box:
House Wren on nesting box:
Canyon Wren, Catherpes mexicanus:
Carolina Wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus:
Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris:
Marsh Wren with reed nest:
Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus:
Sedge Wren, Cistothorus platensis:
Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus:
Cactus Wren nest in prickly pear cactus:
Wonderful photos of these “sprites”, as you colorfully called them. They are such delightful birds. Thank you for elucidating the difference between troglobite and troglodyte. I had not considered why wrens were in Troglodytidae.
One such part-time cave dweller, a house wren, unadvisedly adopted my clothespin bag (which I kept suspended on my backyard clothesline) as her nesting spot one spring. I was forced to purchase some other clothespins so as not to interrupt the incubation process. It is rare to have birds nesting near my house since i have 16 cats, and I could not see this ending well….at least not for the little family. The cats seemed indifferent during the nest building and incubation. But when the clothespin bag began clamoring for food, it was apparently too much. One morning I found the bag on the ground and no trace of any wrens save a few bits of eggshell. It was inevitable, I suppose, but still disappointing.
I used to like wrens until I started trying to raise bluebirds. Wrens want one house for nesting plus the nearby houses too, because… I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s wren game theory — if other cavity nesters are allowed to raise families then the following year there’ll be more birds wanting houses… So they kill the eggs or hatchlings in the boxes around theirs. Which is upsetting. A bluebird expert at a bluebird house building workshop I attended said that this could be combated by trapping the male wren inside the house and “recycling” it.
Wow, I knew wrens were feisty little birds but not that they could be that nasty. Here in Ottawa, house wrens aren’t that common. The bluebirds’ main “enemy” is the tree swallow. Apparently by placing two bird houses fairly close together, tree swallows can take one and prevent other tree swallows from claiming the second (because it’s in their territory). They will allow bluebirds to use it, though.
Most of these wrens have their tails up, they will take on the world.
In the UK and elsewhere in Europe we have the Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes. It is very similar in size and build to some of your North American species and from time to time slapdash picture editors print pictures of Carolina Wrens to illustrate articles about Eurasian Wrens. The Eurasian Wren is one of our smallest species but it has a very powerful voice that belies its small size.
Our North American Winter Wren (now Troglodytes hiemalis) was until very recently considered the same species as the Eurasian Wren, but there was a split. The winter wren is not one of the wrens featured in this post.
Fabulous!
A lovely themed set, as always – thanks! They’ll be missed while our host is away.
Another great set. Thank you. Wrens tend to be difficult to photograph. Especially the sedge wren: very small and very skulking, and often in rather inaccessible habitat (at least where I live).
Nice, thanks for explaining the distinctions and for the photos. Wrens are cool.
These are gorgeous photos. The little cactus wren has a really long and dangerous looking beak. I’m curious now about what they eat and what they use to make their nests. I’m going to go look it up. I will miss the wildlife photo posts. I always learn so much from them and from the comments.
I used to fantasize about building birdhouses from high-tech materials. Even for octopuses, I wanted to make a better place than a jar thrown into the water. Maybe carbon fibers?
This is probably still normal fantasy.
I don’t have a psychoanalyst.
I used to fantasize about building birdhouses from high-tech materials. Even for octopuses, I wanted to make a better place than a jar thrown into the water. Maybe carbon fibers?
This is probably still normal fantasy.
I don’t have a psychoanalyst.