ML122874271
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - X
Observation details
Initially heard giving rapid "timp!" call notes, often doubled. Once or twice I also heard the rapid staccato trill of "timp" notes this species gives when agitated in response to pishing. Eventually several Song Sparrows also began calling, which was a great comparison (the vocalizations were nearly identical). The Winter Wren's "timp" notes were more clipped and less hoarse than the Song Sparrow, but were nevertheless nothing like the Wilson's Warbler-esque "chep" notes I would expect from a Pacific Wren. One of the recordings included is of the Winter Wren and Song Sparrows vocalizing together, which illustrates the similarity in the vocalizations well. The bird was a small, compact wren with a short, stubby tail that was held perpendicular to the body most of the time. The folded wings then protruded past the undertail coverts. The upperparts were a rich warm brown, and the underparts were a pale (and slightly buffy) color with a pale throat and discreet pale supercillium. The flanks were slightly darker with muted dark barring. The wings also showed some faint dark bars and what appeared to be small white spots along the leading edge of the folded wing. Small white spots also appeared to be present on the undertail coverts (visible due to the cocked tail). Thin dark bill and flesh colored legs. Initially, given the lighting and the brevity of my view of the bird's underparts, I thought this may have been a good candidate for a Pacific Wren, but after watching the bird more and seeing the underparts better it no longer appeared consistent. Fortunately the call is diagnostic for Winter Wren. The bird was working a short (25-50 yard) stretch of the North-South canal near the Leyendecker Plant Center main building (labeled with a sign). It seemed particularly fond of the stretch of canal directly across from the small experimental pecan grove with saplings (behind the Plant Science Building). It called noisily, but would go fairly long periods silent. It responded fairly well to pishing.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 40D
- ISO
- 1250
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/1600 sec
- Dimensions
- 2146 pixels x 1430 pixels
- Original file size
- 496.32 KB