Name that Tune

It’s my third spring here in TX and you would think I wouldn’t be so easily fooled by a bird’s song, but once again, a tune made me turn my head and think, “Ah, we DO have Song Sparrows here after all.”  But no, it was the Bewick’s Wren's song I heard, and if I could translate, it might have been saying, “Gotch ya!”, for this isn't the first time it fooled me.   It is one of the first ones signing each morning, and like the Song sparrow, it seems to think, if a tune is catchy enough to sing once, why not sing it a hundred times?

I used to love to listen to “my” Song Sparrow and try to compare it to others I heard.  If I had spare time, I could really do the same with the Bewick’s wren, for both birds need to learn their song, rather than have it ready-made as an instinctual call.  And interestingly, at least with the Bewick’s wren, the young male is copying, not the song of his dear old Dad, but that of the rival male who scolds from the other side of the territorial line.  Hard not to draw a comparison with youth who think their parents know nothing, but will listen readily to others.

The repetitive singing is what reminds me of the Song Sparrow but the comparison ends there, for the wren is one, packed-with-energy, bird.  Like most wrens, it is always flitting from branch to branch, pumping or wagging its upturned tail, doing knee bends and singing; in spring, constantly singing. You will hear him from every corner of your yard as he claims it all as his own. The Song Sparrow however,  seems more content to choose his tree top and just sing over and over from there.  

 I have at least a couple of male Bewick's in my yard for I hear the males ratcheting up their singing competitions, the dueling banjo’s of the wren's territorial world.  According to those who claim to know these things, the female is listening to see which one has truly learned the song and can mimic its tutor to a T.  How she knows who that tutor was and what it sounded like, they don’t say, but clearly it is the song that gets the girl.

 

Along with being one hyper little guy, you could be tempted to say it suffers from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), for you can watch it wipe its bill, as many birds do, on the branch after it eats an especially juicy larva.  Although I have seen it wipe its bill several times, the Cornell people claim it can do it up to 100 times!  Perhaps a “clean bill” of health is another thing the female is looking for. 

Had this been hundreds of years ago, my East Coast friends would also be familiar with the Bewick’s wren from their own yard, for they used to be found throughout the country.  However, they have since disappeared from east of the Mississippi and the culprit considered most responsible for their demise is the House Wren.  

 Perky and cute too,  they like the same sort of nesting site as the Bewicks and think nothing of claiming it as their own; kicking out eggs, fledglings etc .  Like the starlings that oust the Bluebirds it seems being too demure isn’t a good thing for your long term prospects when there are a shortage of nesting sites.  

I am lucky to have Carolina wrens in the yard also, lots of “teakettle tea” going on this time of year and lots of  answering “churrrrs” from the female.  I know I have told you before that they mate for life, and the attitude behind the “churrr” strikes me as a complaint of a wife that has heard one “teakettle teas”  too many.  The other day I got a good verbal lashing from a female Carolina for, while filling my bird feeder, I must have stumbled on her nest site.  I didn't actually see the nest, but she burst out of a bush and upbraided me with such vociferous churrs and scolding  that I felt thoroughly chastised!  It was an effective deterrent for I haven't dared  go look more carefully for the nest for fear of another verbal assault.   

So, perhaps the third time is the charm, and I will no longer be fooled by a tune that sounds like an old friend, but really belongs to a new one.  Enjoy the songs you hear, for no matter where you live, the dawn chorus is filling the airwaves and trying to figure out who the singers are is a great way to start the day.