Today, Brooklyn Bird Watch features a Heather Wolf photo of a Carolina Wren. The Carolina Wren is an interesting bird and is third on the list of the five most common Wren species in New York State. The Carolina Wren is a shy bird that is definitely heard more than seen — this bird can sing extremely loud for its relatively small size.
The Carolina Wren lives up and down the East Coast: all the way up the coast from Florida to New York State. In recent decades, as The Cornell Lab of Ornithology points out, the Carolina Wren has had to expand its wintering habitats further and further north. In the Summer “it can seem that every patch of woods in the eastern United States rings with the rolling song of the Carolina Wren.”
Heather Wolf’s photo perfectly matches the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s description of this bird, that is, the “rich cinnamon plumage, white eyebrow stripe, curved beak, and long, upward-cocked tail.” The Carolina Wren usually mates for life, which would classify it, of course, as a monogamous bird. A pair will stay together in their territory all year and forage and move around the territory together. They eat mostly insects, especially caterpillars, beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, and others. They will also feed on spiders and snails. Sometimes a pair of Carolina Wrens will catch and eat a small lizard or a tree frog. They like to visit bird feeders, especially if there is suet.
Only the males actually “sing”, and have a rather extensive repertoire of at least twenty different phrase patterns while the female Carolina Wren generally has a more clipped chirping sound. Even though the male is the primary singer of the species, pairs have been known to sing together, harmonizing and interweaving their songs until they sound like a single bird singing. Sometimes a pair will defend their territory by singing together. Nevertheless, female Carolina wrens do possess song control regions that would appear to make them capable of singing with repertoires like the male. Due to vocalizations that they occasionally make with the male, it has been suggested that song perception plays a role and is of behavioral relevance. The male Carolina Wren likes to just sing, and then sing some more. It has been reported that one captive male Carolina Wren sang nearly 3,000 times in a single day.
As far as courting goes, the National Audubon Society points out: “A 2006 study suggested that the correlation of tail length and body size in males, wing length in females, and lifespan for both sexes were signs of individual quality, and the wrens of high quality tend to mate with like individuals.” The courting, as well as antagonistic encounters, that involve the tail fanning and wing drooping, were suggested to be possible signaling tactics. Age and life experience are not thought of as significant for potential mates due to their relatively short lifespan and sedentary lifestyle.
The Carolina Wren probably daydreams about global warming theories. They are known for their sensitivity to cold weather, with the northern populations decreasing markedly after severe winters. The gradually increasing winter temperatures over the last century may have been responsible for the northward range expansion seen in the mid-1900s.
