House Wren

                                                                            House Wren

 I was visiting a friend's yard last week (May 27) to try to see the Orchard Oriole which had arrived there the day before.  I had no luck with the Oriole but I heard an unusual bird song which I immediately identified as a House Wren.  I invited my friend to come outside and listen and was able to show her the House Wren sitting on the top of the tallest spruce tree singing its heart out.  The photos in this blog are of that beautiful little songster.

The House Wren is not common here in New Brunswick.  It is officially listed as a very rare summer resident and migrant.  Reports are usually from along the St. John River and there are only a few breeding records.  So, most of our singing males do not find mates.  We are at the northeastern limit of its range so only a few make it here.  It is, however, a common inhabitant over much of the US and the most southern aspect of Canada which includes southern Ontario and Quebec but not the Maritimes.  It winters in the southern US and Mexico.  

Historically there were three reports of House Wrens in New Brunswick in the 19th century.  In the first half of the 20th century there were reports of only about 20 to 30 individuals (Austin Squires, The Birds of New Brunswick).  We have had many more reports in recent years including breeding records so the species appears to be moving slowly northward into our province.  Long-term population increases have been documented.  The species is tolerant of human activity which favours its survival success.

                                                                            House Wren

The House Wren is the ultimate 'little brown bird'.  It is a mere 12 cm (4.7 in) long.  It is brown on the upper parts and grayish beneath.  Its supercilium (line over the eye) is indistinct, a field mark which helps distinguish it from its relative, the Carolina Wren.  Its tail is long and the bill is medium in length.  The dull appearance of this little bird is overshadowed by its loud, effervescent song which it delivers with great gusto.  The song is described as a trilling, energetic flutelike melody which is often delivered in bursts with many repeats.  That is what this little ball of energy was treating us to the day we saw it.  

I have also seen a pair of House Wrens nesting in the Mactaquac area.  They were in the backyard of a house along the river and using a nest box.  They successfully raised their brood.

House Wrens prefer habitats such as  gardens, hedgerows, dense brushy patches, forest edges, shrubby areas and farmland.  They nest in tree cavities and readily accept nest boxes.  Five to nine white eggs with brown flecks are laid in a nest made of sticks and grasses.  The female incubates the eggs for 13 to 15 days.  House Wrens eat insects and they forage by gleaning insects, arachnids, millipedes and spiders from leaves and bushes.  

                                                                            House Wren

There are two wren species here which you would have to distinguish the House Wren from; the Carolina Wren and the Winter Wren.  The Winter Wren is far more common and is a common summer resident.  It is much smaller, shorter-tailed and more heavily barred.  It also has a very different song (but beautiful in its own right).  The Winter Wren is more secretive and hard to see.  The Carolina Wren is larger, and is a brighter, richer rufous brown with a bold white supercilium.  The Carolina Wren is not common here.

House Wrens are sometimes notorious for their strong territorial behaviour.  They will destroy other species nests to achieve that.  They have been known to destroy nests of Bluebirds no matter how far along the family is in its development.  That is remarkable for such a small bird.  They can indeed 'pack a punch'. 

Brown Thrasher Spring Surprise

                                                                            Brown Thrasher

On May 2 we were walking our dogs on a vacant court near our home in Fredericton on a beautiful sunny day.  This has been an early spring and the Amelanchiers were already in bloom.  I became aware of loud, intense bird song on my left over a tangle of blackberry and raspberry canes with a hedgerow of bushes beyond.  I could tell it was a mimic, one of our 3 species which produce long, varied, repetitive bird songs.  I describe them as loud and boisterous.  

The Brown Thrasher, along with the Gray Catbird and the Northern Mockingbird are members of the Mimidae family.  There are 34 species in 11 genera worldwide in that family.  In North America there are 10 species and all live in the southwest except the Brown Thrasher, the Gray Catbird and the Northern Mockingbird.  We have the Gray Catbird as a common summer resident.  The Brown Thrasher and the Northern Mockingbird are listed as rare summer residents.  These three species prefer thickets, hedgerows and grown-over areas.  Brown Thrashers and Northern Mockingbirds like to sing from a high perch and they certainly make their presence known.  The Gray Catbird is boisterous and noisy but it usually hides in thick vegetation.  

Brown Thrashers have a long decurved bill with which to probe for food in leaf litter and holes in the ground.  They feed on insects, seeds and invertebrates.  They have the distinctive orange/yellow eye of the thrasher family.  The Brown Thrasher is a beautiful rufous brown and the long tail is very noteworthy.  It is a large bird, 29 cm (11.5 in) long.

                                          Brown Thrasher Singing from an Amelanchier Bush

Male and female Brown Thrashers are similar in appearance.  The rufous brown colour and the stripes on the breast and flanks are striking.  

The family Mimidae are noted for their boisterous, repetitive songs.  One can actually use the repetitive characteristics of the song to identify the species.  That is helpful in identifying species that like to spend their time in thick vegetation!  As I listened to the song of the bird mentioned in this post I was immediately aware it was a 'mocker' (member of Mimidae).  Here in NB that would make it either a Gray Catbird, a Northern Mockingbird or a Brown Thrasher.  I could tell right away it was not a catbird because I am most familiar with that song.  So the test then, since I could not see the bird at first, was was it a mockingbird or a thrasher.  One can tell, although it is not as easy as described in the literature, by the number of repetitive elements in each repetitive phrase.  These phrases are intermingled with many other warbles and twitters so one has to listen carefully.  I could eventually tell there were usually 2 repetitive elements in the phrases, so that would make the bird a Brown Thrasher.  The Northern Mockingbird usually has 3 repetitive elements in each repetitive phrase.  So the task then was to wade through the blackberry and raspberry canes and to try and see the singing bird.  I eventually found it sitting near the top of the high bushes blended in very well with the blossoms.  What a sight - what a beautiful bird.  It continued to sing.  I stayed well back and just enjoyed the concert.  It allowed the photos seen above.  

Brown Thrashers are amazing songsters.  They have the largest repertoire of songs of all North American songbirds.  They are able to vocalize 3000 distinct songs!  They sing for long periods at a time interspersed with rest periods.  

Brown Thrashers are the state bird of Georgia.  They have inspired the National Hockey League team, the Atlanta Thrashers, to use their name.

For more information on the life history of this species, search this blog for 'Brown Thrasher'.

Garganey in New Brunswick?

                                                                        Garganey Male

A rare bird alert came out on Monday morning, May 3, 2021.  An extremely rare duck from Europe was seen at Hay Island (Ile-aux-foins) near Neguac, NB.  We had other plans for that day but immediately changed them for a trip north.  Most birders here had not even heard of a Garganey let alone seen one.  A quick check to Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List showed that there have been only two previous records of this species in New Brunswick : a male at Red Head Marsh, Saint John in May, 1979 and a male at Val-Comeau in May, 1990.  Both previous records indicated the Garganey was accompanying Blue-winged Teal which is apparently normal for this highly-migratory species.  In our present visit, it was accompanying Green-winged Teal.

The Garganey is an Euro-Asian species where it is abundant.  It occurs regularly in the extreme western North America: the Aleutians, the Pribilofs and along the Pacific coast.  It occurs rarely in widely scattered spots throughout North America.  Most records are in the spring when the male is easily identified.  The females and eclipse males are difficult to distinguish from female Blue-winged Teal and would be often overlooked.  In Europe the Garganey breeds from Britain and France to central Europe, north to Sweden, through eastern Europe and into Russia.  It winters in tropical Africa.  

                                                                        Garganey Male

The male Garganey in breeding plumage is very impressive.  Move over Green- and Blue-winged Teal.  There is a new kid in town.  The Garganey is a bit bigger than our teal, the Green-winged and the Blue-winged (39 cm compared to 36 and 39 cm).  It is heavier and it shows in profile in the head and bill.   His plumage is remarkable.  His head, neck and breast are a deep cinnamon brown.  He has a humongous white superciliary line.  This wide white line extends in an arc from in front of the eye over the upper aspect of the cheek and down the neck.  See the photo above.  The flanks are a light gray and they are overhung by very beautiful long tertiary feathers that are medium gray and outlined with white.  These two features, the white line and the flashy tertiaries are what you first notice.  The wings have a pale blue shoulder patch and a dark green speculum outlined in white.  This varies somewhat from the Green-winged Teal with a wider white line, the anterior (dorsal)  line being very wide.  The undertail coverts are black and the feathers around the tail are gray mottled.  The photo below shows the speculum clearly.

                                                    Garganey Male Showing Speculum

Gargeney nest near small ponds with abundant floating vegetation.  The 7 to 12 creamy yellow to light olive eggs are laid in a nest on the ground made of grass.  It is usually hidden under a shrub or in tall grass.  The female incubates the eggs 21 to 23 days.  

Garganey feed mainly on plant seeds, pondweeds, grasses and aquatic invertebrates.  They are filter feeders and usually feed by skimming or moving along with their heads under water rather than by upending. 

 

Garganey were one of the species described by Linnaeus in 1758.  They still have the same scientific name, Anas querquedula.

A Flock of Glossy Ibises

                                                                        

                                                                         Glossy Ibis

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 I noticed on the Chat Line that David Lilly published a sighting of 25 Glossy Ibises just west of where Rt. 2 crosses Rt 105 in Sheffield.  At first I thought it was a typographical error.  Who could imaging 25 Glossy Ibises?  I have never seen anywhere near that many together in the southeastern US where they are common.  I quickly saw that someone questioned the number and it was confirmed at 25.  At the time I was occupied at home but with that rare sighting I dropped everything, quickly loaded my car with gear and headed out.  On arrival I found them exactly where described. 

At a distance Glossy Ibises look black.  They are large waders and easy to spot.  There was the large flock in a pond near the road and easy to spot.  Some were preening, some were sleeping, some were feeding.  It was difficult to count them.  I got 22 on one count and 24 on another.  I had a very short time to watch them and try to get some photos.  Soon a female Northern Harrier flew over them and put them all up.  They circled in a tight formation around the pond twice while croaking to one another.  Soon they settled in a pond behind the first pond and now not visible from the road.  My friend was on his way to see them so knowing where they were exactly helped him see them from a different angle.  Four days later we returned to see them again.  This time they were across the road towards the river in a pond behind a house and some outbuildings.  They were difficult to see with all the obstructions but I managed to get more photos and to count 18.  I expect there were more there but I was not able to get a clear view.  

                                                    Some of the Flock of Glossy Ibises

                                                    More of the Flock of Glossy Ibises

I was able to watch the birds for a short while and specifically looked for any possible White-faced Ibises among them.  I found none and all the Glossy Ibises looked like healthy adults.  The ones that were feeding were being successful and I watched them eat worms and other invertebrates.  They undoubtedly found amphibians as well.   See the video below I took of another Glossy Ibis from a different visit to New Brunswick which shows it feeding.

The arrival of a large flock of Glossy Ibises in New Brunswick causes one to wonder where they have come from and where they are going.  They are not native here and we have had only one unsuccessful breeding attempt recorded in the province.  According to the Birds of New Brunswick:  An annotated List  the first reports of Glossy Ibises in NB began in the 1950s.  Most reports have been of single individuals or of low numbers.  Eight were reported from Sheffield in May, 1973 and 10 from Saints Rest Marsh in April 1986.  Groups in the double digits are exceedingly rare.  I remember a report from Nettie Moore's sightings of a large number many years ago (verification being researched).  Our report of 25 is definitely amazing.

The Glossy Ibis is a paleoarctic species.  In North America it summers along the Atlantic coast north to southern Maine and southward to southern Florida and westward to Louisiana along the Gulf coast.  It is a permanent resident in the south of this range.  It also summers in SE Europe, the Middle East and SW Russia and winters or is a permanent resident in Africa, Madagascar, Australia and some islands in the south Pacific.  In all areas its populations were declining until recently.  

In Europe its population numbers have increased due to agriculture in Spain where rice is now grown.  In North America the former decline in population has reversed.  Glossy Ibis population numbers have increased by about 4% per year since the 1960s.  This explains why our sightings have increased in late years.  They are undoubtedly benefiting from our wetland conservation programs.  It is exciting to see our conservation of habitat efforts has produced results.  Imagine, 25 Glossy Ibises in one flock here in Sheffield!

For more information on the life history of the Glossy Ibis, search this blog for 'Glossy Ibis'.