Bewicks Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)

[order] PASSERIFORMES | [family] Troglodytidae | [latin] Thryomanes bewickii | [UK] Bewicks Wren | [FR] Troglodyte de Bewick | [DE] Busch-Zaunkonig | [ES] Chivirin cola obscura | [NL] Bewicks Winterkoning

Subspecies

Physical charateristics

Note the longish tail with white corners and the bold white eyebrow stripe. Western races are mouse brown, less rusty.

Listen to the sound of Bewicks Wren

[audio:http://www.aviflevoland.nl/sounddb/B/Bewicks Wren.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto

Range

North America : widespread, also Mexico

Habitat

Thickets, underbrush, gardens. In the West, found in many brushy or wooded habitats at lower elevations, including undergrowth in woods of oak and pine, streamside groves, chaparral, desert washes, suburban areas. In the Ea
st (where now scarce), mostly in brushy areas around the edges of woods.

Reproduction

Male defends nesting territory by singing; songs of eastern birds quite different from those in West. Adults sometimes puncture eggs of other birds nesting nearby.
Nest:
Site is in any kind of cavity, including natural hollows in trees, old woodpecker holes; also in manmade sites, including birdhouses, holes in buildings, mailboxes, tin cans, many others. Usually less than 20′ above the ground. Male may build incomplete
“dummy” nests; female probably chooses site and completes one nest. Nest has foundation of twigs, leaves, bark strips, and trash, topped with softer cup of moss, leaves, animal hair, feathers. Sometimes adds bits of snakeskin to nest.
Eggs: 5-7, sometimes 4-11. White, with brown and gray blotches often concentrated at larger end. Incubation is probably by female only, about 14 days.
Young: Both parents bring food for nestlings. Young leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching.

Feeding habits

Mostly insects.
Feeds on a wide variety of insects, including beetles, ants, wasps, true bugs, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and many others. Also eats many spiders, and occasionally some berries or seeds.
Behavior: Forages very actively by climbing and hopping about on trunks, branches, and twigs of trees, probing into bark crevices or gleaning insects from the surface. Also feeds on the ground, flipping over leaves and
probing among leaf litter.

Conservation

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Migration

Southern Canada to Mexico.
Migration: Some are present all year in most parts of breeding range, but many depart from northern areas and higher elevations in winter; may be more migratory in East than in West.

Distribution map