Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Unknown age, Unknown sex - 1
Observation details
The Carolina Wren is a newcomer to Vermont, coming along slowly northward as the winters become milder. It's _teakettle, teakettle, teakettle_ song is a fixture in states to the south, and is now becoming more familiar in suburban areas in southern and central Vermont. Almost all of these Vermont wrens are almost certainly going to be the same subspecies, _Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus_. This species is very difficult to judge dichotomously - indeed, Birds of the World says that aging and sexing the bird in the field is almost impossible. However, there are three main groupings of the ten subspecies, and it is relatively easy to eliminate two of the groupings using common features, without resorting to "range" as the justification for identification. Birds of the World (Haggerty and Morton 2020) says: > Dorsum bright rusty- or chestnut-brown; supercilium buff; upper surface of rectrices chestnut; ventrum buffy to tawny-buff; flanks typically unmarked; feet pale; body size averages larger. Pyle (1997) writes: > Averages medium large; bill short ...; upperparts bright rufous-brown; underparts with a moderate tawny-buff wash. ... Birds north of s. OK-s. VA ("carolinianus") may average larger and paler ... but variation is weak, broadly clinal, and/or due to intergradation with other subspecies [sic]." Separating the _ludovicianus_ group from the _berlandieri Group_ ("Carolina Wren (Northeast Mexico/South Texas)" on eBird) depends upon having a bright rufous back, and a tawny or rufous ventrum. However, this will only eliminate _lomitensis_ (in Texas). For the other two subspecies in this group - _berlandieri_ and _tropicalis_ - lack of barring on the flanks will suffice. The other grouping, the White-browed Carolina Wren _Thryothorus ludovicianus albinucha/subfulvus_ can be separated fairly easily: if the bird has abuffy supercilium, it is not a White-browed. Lack of a contrasting white-throat or a speckled breast can also be used to separate those two subspecies, individually. This information was copied verbatim from https://birdinginvermont.com/subspecies/carw. To date, there are no records of other subspecies in Vermont. This record is, to my knowledge, the first record of the Northern Carolina Wren in Vermont. ---- This bird appears to have "bright rufous-brown upperparts". Size is difficult to judge, both for the entire body and for the bill. The underparts certainly have a tawny-buff wash, and the supercilium is buffy. This, combined with the location at the northern extremity of its range, makes this identification fairly safe in my opinion.
Technical information
- Model
- NIKON D500
- Lens
- 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6
- ISO
- 2500
- Focal length
- 480 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/1600 sec
- Dimensions
- 2048 pixels x 1365 pixels
- Original file size
- 2.33 MB