What to watch for in October: Charming, loquacious wrens
Wrens are small to mid-sized songbirds in the bird family Troglodytidae. Their family name is from the Greek word troglodytes meaning cave dweller. It refers to wrens’ tendencies to forage for insects in dark nooks and narrow crevices. To aid in this behavior, their skulls are flattened and their bills are slender and curved.
Wrens are a delightful part of the bird community, with loud voices and tails often cocked up. Eight of the nine wren species in the Austin area are regularly seen in the right season. The ninth, the Cactus Wren, has not been recorded in Travis County in the last 10 years.
Austin has three reliable year-round species of wrens, with Carolina and Bewick’s Wrens ubiquitous in backyards, parks and greenbelts. The Bewick’s Wrens prefer drier habitats and the Carolina favors moister spots although there is overlap, and some neighborhoods have both. They are different shades of brown. The Carolina has a reddish-brown back and cinnamon-orange underparts while the Bewick’s has a gray-brown back and grayish underparts. Both species sport white eyebrows. The Canyon Wren, a rufous-colored wren with a white throat, has a beautiful liquid, descending song. It is an uncommon resident in western Travis County, especially in canyons with vertical rock faces, where it is more often heard than seen. A good place to see one is at Bob Wentz Windy Point Park on Lake Travis. The Canyon Wrens favor the area just off the Point by the closed boat ramp where there is a steep dropoff, and by the covered pavilion on the park’s east side.
In the winter months several more wren species come to stay. The two most frequently encountered wintering wrens are the Northern House Wren and the Marsh Wren, both arriving now. Some will overwinter, while others will head further south. Both species leave for northern breeding grounds in May. To round out the nine wren species, Winter and Sedge Wrens are also winter visitors, while the Rock Wren is a possible breeder in isolated spots in western Travis County, with more showing up for the winter.
The Northern House Wren is somewhat secretive, although it will call attention to itself with churrs, rattles, and chatter in winter, and it occasionally will pop out to look for predators. It’s a drab, gray-brown small, slender bird. Unlike our resident Bewick’s and Carolina Wrens, it does not have a pronounced white eyebrow. It got the designation House Wren because it is often found foraging and nesting close to houses in summer, often using nest boxes. In winter, it likes brushy woodland edges with trees, shrubs and brushy tangles rather than more open areas.
The name Northern House Wren is quite a mouthful for a small inconspicuous bird. It became a new species in 2024, when the former House Wren was split into the Northern House Wren ranging across Canada, the U.S. and parts of Mexico and the Southern House Wren, to reflect significant differences in South American birds.
On their breeding grounds Northern House Wrens are aggressive, killing other cavity nesters like bluebirds, chickadees, Tree Swallows and other House Wrens. When it comes time for House Wrens to migrate north for the summer, listen for their beautiful gurgling songs that run up and down the scale. They also make a whiny meow sound that can be mistaken for the much larger Gray Catbird. Platt Lane at Hornsby Bend and the prairie edge at Commons Ford are good places to listen and look for one.
The Marsh Wren favors wetlands that have cattails or other vegetation like sedges and bulrushes. In the winter they also use tidal saltmarshes along the coast. (There are also resident Marsh Wrens on the upper and central Texas coast.) In Austin Marsh Wrens can be found in large ponds that have cattails, as well as along lakes with tall, emergent vegetation. Large retention ponds with vegetation provide possible habitat too. The classic pose for a Marsh Wren is straddling two different plant stalks as it looks around alertly, with its tail cocked up. Marsh Wrens sing a delightful choppy, staccato song. Some have been documented as having 200 songs in their repertoires.
On their breeding grounds, male Marsh Wrens make several dummy nests and the females choose one. Just like the Northern House Wrens, Marsh Wrens defend their nest territories aggressively, with eggs and nestlings of other species and other Marsh Wrens destroyed…