Interesting! Liz, would you let us know if you see it again, and whether the diagnoses were correct?!!
Holly Peirson Columbus, Anoka Co. -----Original Message----- From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU] On Behalf Of Steve Weston Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 11:06 PM To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Subject: Re: [mou-net] Mystery wren captured on my backyard feeder cam Interesting photo! Wouldn't it be nice if the birds would carry ID tags. The bright white supercillium and long tail narrow the field down to just two choices: Carolina Wren and Bewick's Wren. The Carolina Wren is regular in the SE Minnesota and perhaps into the Metro Area. The Bewick's is accidental with only 7 fall records in the state and hasn't been seen since 1998. Obviously, we can't expect it to be a Bewick's. The really long tail and the cool brown color make it an easy decision: it is a Bewick's Wren. The only problem is that I do not have confidence in the color integrity. Looking at the white under-tail coverts, and using Sibley, we definitely tell that this is a juvenile plumage...ummm...a juvenile plumage Carolina or Bewick's. If you look carefully, you will see some faint barring on the edge of the wing, which according to Sibley makes this definitely a Carolina Wren and when you look at National Geo for confirmation, you can see that both species have barring on the edge of the wing. Look at the shape of the bird. Sibley describes the Carolina as a stocky bird and the Bewick's as slender. The Carolina weighs more than twice the Bewick's. And, when we compare this bird to the Downy on the edge of the photo and ask the question of comparative size: Is the Downy closer to 1.33 times the weight of the wren or three times the weight of the wren? To me, the Downy looks much larger than the wren and easily twice its weight. I believe that this is the rarer Bewick's Wren. I think that the size, shape, tail length, and most important, color indicate an ID of Bewick's. Steve Weston On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN swest...@comcast.net On Thu, Sep 12, 2013 at 9:09 AM, Liz Stanley <l...@lizstanley.com> wrote: > Yesterday I noticed this bird on my feeders, which appears to be a type of > wren. We had a lengthy discussion on the Minnesota Birding Facebook page > about it and I was curious if anyone here has an opinion on what it might > be. While the camera does capture high quality images, of course it would > be much better to have additional views of the bird, which I unfortunately > didn't get (not for lack of trying.) > > http://www.pbase.com/image/152304186 > > Any comments are appreciated! > > -- > Liz Stanley > Bloomington, MN > Backyard weather and feedercam: http://www.overlookcircle.org/ > Photo gallery: http://www.pbase.com/gymell/liz_favorites > Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lizmstanley > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
