Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) are incredibly hard to see, because they spend a lot of their time moving through the underbrush in areas with heavy vegetation. However, it is not hard to know that one of them is around, because Carolina Wrens delivers an amazing number of decibels for their size.
These spunky little birds sing loudly and often—according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, one captive male Carolina Wren sang nearly 3,000 times in a single day. The Cornell Lab noted further that, “Only male Carolina Wrens sing—a series of several quick, whistled notes, repeated a few times. The entire song usually lasts less than 2 seconds and the notes are usually described as three-parted, as in a repeated teakettle or germany. Each male has a repertoire of up to several dozen different song variations. He’ll sing one of these about 15 times before changing his tune.” Check out this link to hear recordings of some of those sounds.
This past Thursday, I while I was at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted some movement in the brush and heard the singing of a Carolina Wren. The bird was mostly hidden, but I managed to find a small visual tunnel through the vegetation that allowed me to get this shot of the wren when it hopped up onto a broken-off branch.
I was thrilled to be able to capture this image mid-song—it helps to show the personality of the wren. I also really like limited color palette—mostly various shades of brown—that give the image a really pleasant color harmony.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wonderful photo. I enjoyed your informative detail about their sounds, and the link you provided to them.
Beautiful!
That’s a great photo, Mike. I like how crazy the background looks.
Thanks, Dan. There were all kinds of crisscrossing branches in the background that would have made it look really cluttered with different camera settings. Fortunately I was able to choose a setting that separated the little bird from the background (though you were able to get enough of a sense of the background to call it “crazy”).
Yeah, Mike, good photography as always and thanks for the link to sounds, giving the whole thing an additional dimension
What a beautiful photo. I love that you’ve captured the bird mid-song.
Thanks, Laura. I love to capture shots of a bird doing something rather than just sitting there, though, alas, most of the shots I get are pretty static.
Fabulous result from the “small visual tunnel” Mike! Awesome.
Thanks, Liz. It is hard to describe how often I bend and twist to try to get a clear shot of birds when they are partially hidden from view. I have settled on using the term “visual tunnel” to describe my goal of getting as unobstructed a shot as I can in a cluttered environment.
I love wrens of all kind. In Va, there was a wren that sang on our deck every morning at 6 a m. The frustrating part is when they are in the bushes singing, “I’m here, I’m here” I know, I just can’t find you!!!!!!!!!!
I hope that you are an early riser, Sally, because I know some folks who would not welcome a 6 a.m. wake-up call from a wren. 🙂
It always seems the smaller birds, such as wrens, have the largest attitudes!
The Carolina Wren in the spring has fooled me more than once with its incredible repertoire. “What is that??” Sure enough, down low, loud and proud!
I am always thrilled when I manage to get anything close to a clear shot of a wren. At this time of the year we also have Winter Wrens in our area, but I have not yet spotted one this year.
I spent two years trying to figure out what kind of bird was making “all that noise” around my place. I tried and tried to track it, and when I finally found it in a bush near the ground, I nearly died laughing. That little bird had me completely fooled. I thought I was looking for something a foot long with lungs like — well, who knows what? Amazing.
I definitely was shocked to discover that some of the smallest birds make the loudest calls.
Beautiful capture, Mike.
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Thanks, Mitzy.
What an outstanding photo of this precious Carolina wren, Mike! Funny, I was just commenting to Donna about how difficult they are to see, though we hear them singing nonstop in some of my favorite birding spots.
They crack me up. Come to our feeder on the deck daily. ALWAYS make me smile!
Carolina Wrens are not hard to see around here. They come to our feeders and chase the other birds away. My husband calls them “diavolakos” or little devil. We always enjoy seeing them and likewise for the house wrens that nest around here in the summer.
I don’t think think that I knew that Carolina Wrens would come to bird feeders–there is not enough room in the little yard of my townhouse for a bird feeder. As one other reader noted, Carolina Wrens seem to have an attitude and your comments, Nina, definitely support that view. 🙂
I remember last year a C wren would visit the seed feeder and just throw the seed out on the ground. A very messy feeder!
Beautiful image, Mike, the bird,his perch and that dreamy background! You’ve captured the spunk of these little fellows nicely.