Throughout most of the year, if I am fortunate enough to spot a wren, it is likely to be a Carolina Wren. During the cold months, though, there is a chance that I may find a Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), a species that overwinters in my area. I have been trying to photograph one all winter and finally on Tuesday I managed to get a couple of shots of one during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
I really like the way the Audubon Guide to North American Birds describes the Winter Wren, “A secretive little bird of dense woods. It often creeps about among fallen logs and dense tangles, behaving more like a mouse than a bird, remaining out of sight but giving an occasional kimp-kimp callnote.” It is quite amazing to watch this energetic little bird as is crawls in and out of the undergrowth, rarely popping into view.
Normally Winter Wrens appear to be rather plump and round, as you can see in the second image. Something attracted the wren’s attention when I was taking the first shot that caused it to stretch out a bit, giving the bird a longer, more lanky look. The first shot also gives you a pretty good look at the varied patterns in the plumage of a Winter Wren—when the wren is in the shadows it looks to be a solid brown color, but there are actually a lot of speckles and stripes.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 