In this blog, Introducing the tiny and entertaining Carolina Wren, we will share photographs and information about one of our favorite backyard birds: the Carolina Wren. These tiny brown birds are entertaining for sure, but sometimes you cannot help but laugh out loud with some of their silly poses and quirky behaviors!
Carolina Wrens are some of our favorite birds here at Birds of West Cobb! The tiny and entertaining Carolina Wren has so much energy, sings a fun, cheery song in the mornings and we LOVE their stance where their little tail points nearly straight up in the air. We’ve heard their different calls so often that we can tell their shrill “Alarm” sound from their standard “Good morning world!” song (It sounds like Wren E. Wren is shouting "cheerio cheerio cheerio cheerio" again and again!). The shrill alarm call could be because a hawk or other predator is near, or potentially just a human is too close to their nest space or food source. I like to think of it as Nature’s “backyard warning system”. Additionally, wrens are extremely beneficial and eat a TON of small garden-variety insects, spiders, caterpillars, and butterflies & moths, and we've even seen them perch in a location which allowed them to eat ant after ant, on certain occasions.
When we first started feeding the local wildlife at our home, we had a small table on our front porch. On the top of the table, we had a small glass vase with some fake flowers in it. This vase and fake flowers had been here for several years and had never moved, aside from us washing the pollen off each spring. This porch is also a covered porch that we wouldn’t even use for a week or two at a time because we often exited through the garage instead. So it was likely being ‘updated’ by our new tenant for a couple of days, maybe even a week before we noticed.
Mid-Spring that year we noticed that the glass vase suddenly had some pine straw sticking out of the top. Upon further inspection, we realized that birds had built a nest down inside this vase, between the fake flower stems! We were so lucky to have this table sitting directly in front of one window so we could peer out, between the blinds, from our living room and watch Wren E. Wren and Mrs. Wren E. Wren protect the eggs, and then later fly in and out constantly feeding the children over the next few weeks.
One evening while the birds were away briefly, I counted 5 eggs in the nest. They were so small that it was incredible to think they would be bouncy, animated little birds in barely a month. Sadly not all 5 eggs hatched though and they ended up with 3 young birds.
Wrens will nest sometimes in low-lying shrubbery, patio furniture, brush piles, vases apparently, and sometimes within small birdhouses. Over the years I’ve even seen them nest in garage shelving, between tools and cleaners. In this case, they chose a nest that was perfectly placed. It was not in our direct path and we were pretty unlikely to disturb the parents or the young.
In the video clip below, Wrenny Wren starts off with one of those shrill, alarm calls, but then switches to his happy "Cheerio cheerio cheerio call". Enjoy!
They grow up so fast! I was washing our cars in the driveway a few weeks later and looked around the corner toward the porch and noticed one small juvenile wren was on the deck floor, under the table! I was afraid that something happened to the nest at first and I wanted to help somehow. I heard the parents making their alarm call at this point and realized they were alarmed by me, being so close to their young. I took a step back and the fledgling flapped a few times and was mid-air in the blink of an eye. This little wren flew right past my face and landed on the roof rack on my car. A few minutes later the other two fledglings popped out of the top of the vase and followed suit.
It has been several years now, and we’ve had them nest in several containers on our porch since, but we always think back to that first time with the glass vase and our shock when we found the tuft of pine straw protruding from the fake flowers.
In this video, we found that Wrens absolutely ADORE small terracotta plates for small plants, as long as a little bit of water has been added. Take a look as he takes a very long enjoyable bath, after digging around and flipping leaves all morning!
What birds are similar to the Carolina Wren?
This photo (below) shows a “Winter Wren”, which is a different species entirely from the Carolina Wren. The Winter Wren often can be seen during migration, or over the Winter-to-Early Spring period where they will generally be found in the Southern states. They are shaped and sized very closely to the Carolina Wren, however they are a different species and almost appear as if they were dirty or have mottled feathers like a fledgling Carolina Wren might have.
You may have heard someone refer to them as a "House Wren", but that too is a different species. In fact, there are NINE species of Wren in North America. While they have similarities between them, they are all unique in their size, coloration, calls and esapecially their diet! While 9 species may seem like a lot, there are actually 88 species of Wrens worldwide! (link to referencing material on wikipedia).
Thanks for reading our blog and watching our videos!
-BOWC (Lisa & Dan)
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