ML260290181

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

I heard this bird singing at around 10:45, and went outside immediately to go get better photos of it. This may or may not have been one of the two Carolina Wrens I heard here earlier this week. It was singing in some 6-foot tall shrubs I can't identify next to the fence in the empty lot where there were formerly beautiful Boxelders, which are now branching out from the trunks, creating pleasant bushes for birds to hide in this otherwise barren Montpelier lot on Downing Street. Sunflower seeds and some sort of sorrel seem to be providing a more biodiverse habitat than grass. The sun was bright and clear, with few clouds, and there is a light late-summer zephyr blowing. The temperature is 72°F. The bird in quest was preening itself and singing on the top of the fence, and then singing occasionally from within the leafy bush next to it. It was conscious of me and would duck down and out again, but I attempted not to bother it excessively. I identified the photographed bird initially as a Carolina Wren by the song, a fluting series of multisyllabic chirps that would change every few iterations, as well as a Great Crested Flycatcher-reminiscent quirp. I visually confirmed it as a Carolina Wren by the size and shape of the bill, the pale supercilium, the small size, the alert posture and long, erect tail, and the red-brown dorsal coloration. The bird hard a buffy supercilium (not pure white, but creamy), a bright rufous back, lack of barring in the flanks, and a tawny-buff (which I interpreted as brownish/tanish) ventrum. As I am red-green deficient, this coloration may appear different to other observers. I've attached photos of this bird that are both well-lit and backlit to show different aspects of its color. I identified this bird as a member of the Thryothorus ludovicianus [ludovicianus Group] subspecies by noticing the creamy buffiness of the supercilium, which eliminates the white-browed subspecies; by the lack of barring on the flanks, which eliminates T.l. berlandieri and T.l. tropicalis; and by the bright rufous back and tawny ventrum, which eliminates T.l. lomitensis. All other recognized subspecies by eBird are grouped together in the ludovicianus group, and identifying them down to subspecies here may require having the bird in hand, and may be impossible due to weak clinal variation (for more, see Pyle 1997). For more on eBird groupings, see the Birds of the World systematics page. I will not endeavor to identify it down beyond the subspecies grouping level as specified by eBird and Birds of the World. I believe that these features are consistent with T.l.l., and this is the species that I would expect to see in this area of the Carolina Wren's range. I believe this is a first year bird, due to the loose texture of the plumage (even though it was preening, which may have influenced this), the filamentous nature of the undertail coverts, and the black undertones to the cheek. There hasn't been a Carolina Wren in my neighborhood with consistency last winter, or in Montpelier in general, but the sudden abundance (and the lack of summer migration northward, which I've never heard of) makes me suspect that there is a sudden influx of immature birds. I did not sex the bird, as this is difficult to do in the field. I went to this amount of effort documenting a known subspecies because I find it interesting to do so, I want to further my appreciation for birds by learning to identify them using smaller details, because logging subspecies is encouraged by eBird, and because I want to make it easier for other people to identify subspecies in Vermont, too. Also it's fun. For more on how I've identified this subspecies, see https://ebird.org/checklist/S73083719 or my notes on https://birdinginvermont.com/subspecies/carw.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D500

Lens

200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

ISO

1250

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

2048 pixels x 1365 pixels

Original file size

2.12 MB