Carolina Wren

[Susan Bloomfield]

I’ll trade the Carolina wren I heard singing his heart out this afternoon in West Kennebunk for any winter grosbeaks you might have.

Susan B

Kennebunk 

[Sean S]

We've had a pair of overwintering Carolina Wrens visiting the suet feeder in Hiram for a couple of weeks now.  The male (I think, it's the larger one) is surprisingly tame and has learned by observing the Blue Jays what hand-thrown treats are.   Yesterday he carefully observed them grabbing peanuts off the ground, and when the coast was clear I tossed him a walnut half, which he disappeared under the porch with.   He doesn't seem at all afraid of people opening the window when he's just outside, although the presumed female is on the shy side.  According to allaboutbirds, "Members of a pair stay together on their territory year-round, and forage and move around the territory together" and other sources say the species doesn't form flocks in winter, so a pair is what I'm calling them unless I hear otherwise.  Anyway their behavior is 100% pair-like, to the point of looking like a set of salt and pepper shakers when they're on the ground together.  The male isn't singing yet, but either he or both of them have been making a twittering call that sounds similar to a displaying Woodcock's whistling wings, along with occasional abrupt chatters.  Interestingly, they don't seem to be present in the yard every day, just a couple of days a week so far, but they've been seen and heard up and down the road so maybe they're looking for nest site options.  When they do show up in the yard they usually stay for the entire day and they sometimes roost overnight in the storage tent.  They don't seem bothered by the recent very cold temperatures, although there's only a moderate amount of snow on the ground so far this year.

Other likely overwintering species are a FIELD SPARROW (last seen today in the company of ATSPs) and several Bluebirds which I guess people have been seeing in quite a few places lately.

Sean Smith

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[Margaret Huber]

I have a single Carolina Wren who appears infrequently and an almost daily white throated sparrow. Unusual for me to see them in January. 

Margi

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[Linda Thompson]

We have two Carolina Wrens that recently have been visiting every day in Bath. They bring us joy!

Linda Thompson

On Jan 24, 2025, at 10:13 AM, Margaret Huber <huberma...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a single Carolina Wren who appears infrequently and an almost daily white throated sparrow. Unusual for me to see them in January. 

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[Bill Grabin]

We had record counts for Carolina Wrens on our CBCs this year.  On 12/28, we had 27 on the Biddeford/Kennebunkport count (which stretches from Kennebunk to OOB).  On 12/16, we had 47(!) on our Southern York County count (which stretches from Kittery to Moody).   Bill 

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[Kristen Lindquist]

Carolina Wrens are non-migratory, so once they've moved into a territory (usually via post-breeding dispersal in the fall), they stay; the real challenge is surviving the winter. 

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Kristen Lindquist 

Camden, ME

website: www.kristenlindquist.com

haiku blog: www.kristenlindquist.com/blog

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." 

--Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

[Dave Cowan]

Ours here in Cumberland started showing up a few years ago and have stayed around each winter, although they’ve only recently started being daily visitors to our feeders (thank you, mealworms). They’re so active and vocal they really liven up the place. And they’ll nest in just about anything. They may not migrate but I have to think they wish they had some days. Maybe they go south mentally. In their minds… they go to Carolina…

 

Dave

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