I could hear rustling in the fallen leaves along one of the trails yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but had trouble determining what was making the noise. Most of the time, sparrows fly away in similar situations, but this little creature seemed to be crawling about, moving in one direction undeterred by my presence. When I finally got a partial glimpse of it, I realized that it was a Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis).
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the appearance and behavior of the Winter Wren in these words, “It sports a palette of browns with dark barring on the wings, tail, and belly. It habitually holds its tiny tail straight up and bounces up and down. This rather weak flier hops and scampers among fallen logs mouselike, inspecting upturned roots and vegetation for insects.” Wow. I don’t recall any other instance of the term “mouselike” being used to describe a bird, but it fits pretty well.
The little Winter Wren was a ball of energy, moving all the time in and out of the vegetation, making it hard to track and even harder to photograph. Eventually it hopped up onto a perch for a few seconds and I was able to capture the first two images. Most of the time, though, it was hidden in the undergrowth, even when it was mostly exposed as in the final image, which gives you a good idea of its habitat.
I really encourage you to click on the images to get a closer view of the different shades of brown and detailed patterns on this beautiful little Winter Wren.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
What a delightful treat to see this winter wren up close, Mike. Even when you’re standing right there with binoculars on, it’s almost impossible to get this kind of good look. I’ve had similar challenges of what you describe many times with the marsh wren. Kudos to your photographic swiftness. And what a gorgeous bird.
Gorgeous little bird. Great shot.
It’s a realy cutie
I love this little wren, he looks so jaunty! Its plumage is a perfect match to its surroundings.
Wrens always do seem to have oversized personalities (and songs). 🙂
Nice images of a cute little bird Mike!
Thanks, Reed.
The texture in his feathers is beautiful.
Thanks, Dan.
What a wonderful little fellow. We had regular visits from relatives–house wrens–when we lived in Omaha, and we loved their burbling songs. Here’s a link to one of them: https://krikitarts.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/hopeful-harbinger-2/.
I love your wren, Gary, and noticed that, like my wren, it is part of the Troglodyte genus. Normally when I think of Troglodytes, I think of a species similar to the Neanderthals–apparently the term comes from Greek and means something like “dive in the hole” or “cave dweller.”
These tiny wrens were great favorites of ours, and we just loved to hear their delightful burbling songs. They reminded me so much of those bird whistles we used to have as kids that one would partially fill with water and blow into. Did you have those too?
I have had bird whistles like that several times in my life and now as I think back, I can recall the noises they would make. As I listened to the wren calls on the Cornell of Ornithology website, they indeed did bring to mind the sounds of those whistles.
Great photo! I just saw a Winter Wren Friday. But in the short time I switched from binoculars to camera it was gone. William
Thanks, William. They are definitely elusive and, at least for me, refuse to sit still.