Bird watching: winter wren

Self-tutoring about birds: the tutor happily reports a discovery.

The other night my son and I went for a walk in the woods. Not far in, we were hailed by a bird whose song is long indeed. It’s a beautiful, warbling song, but perhaps what’s most arresting about it is its insistence.

I’ve never seen the bird whose song it is, but for years it’s greeted me at the same place and followed me around the forest. I think it does so only in spring and summer, as a few nights ago it reassuringly did once more.

Yet, I’ve always wondered: what bird is it, that sings like that? I even seem to recall hearing it in the summer in Newfoundland in the 80s. How can it be so fluent, and ubiquitous, yet so elusive when I try to identify it?

Today, I opened the browser and the bird field guide and, between the two, discovered it must be a winter wren. They sing from high perches in dense forest, and are mottled brown in colour – virtually invisible. Yet, they are known for very long, energetic songs.

Source:

Hoar, De Smet, et al. Birds of Canada. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing, 2010.

allaboutbirds.org