Singing Male Marsh Wren

For me, male Marsh Wrens in springtime epitomize the word “frenzied” as they flit from cattail to cattail defending nesting territory, attract and mate with multiple females and build many “dummy” nests.  And their singing is almost constant.

 

marsh wren 0140 ron dudley

 1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Yesterday I spent some time with this male Marsh Wren at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  He seemed to be in the process of nest-building which is understandable since males construct as many as 22 dummy nests per nesting season.  He would occasionally pop up into view and scold me from a distance.  I chose a rather unconventional composition for this shot to include the entire seed head of the cattail.

 

 

marsh wren 0119 ron dudley

  1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

 The flexibility of their tail always amazes me – just look at the angle of the tail to the body here!  I was surprised that something didn’t break back there…

 

 

marsh wren 0069 ron dudley

 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I know this bird was a male because only males sing and this one was putting his heart and soul into the effort.  The song of the Marsh Wren isn’t appreciated by everyone.  One researcher described it as “deficient and contemptible” and even Audubon compared the “song, if song I may call it… [to]… the grating of a rusty hinge.”  Amazingly, males have to learn up to 200 different song types so perhaps they’re to be forgiven if each of those songs is not aesthetically pleasing to our ears.  These birds sing loudly both day and night.

I had plenty of light so I chose a fast shutter speed for these images because when they’re singing their mandibles move very fast and I wanted to get them sharp.  I was also trying for take-off shots but I cut off parts of the bird every time.

Ron

18 Comments

  1. I love all of these images –great shots of the wren and such harmonious colors and interesting perch.

  2. These birds crack me up. I can’t help but chuckle when I hear their energetic, unmelodic vocalizations. To me they sound kind of like a little kid making machine-gun noises.

  3. I love that song. Exuberance in every note. It would be wonderful background music while you were out and about. And rather more musical than a LOT of our birds.
    As usual I have scrolled up and down through your photos (and will probably revisit later). Love them all, but the songster in full cry has my heart today.

  4. Revisiting once again, the second image sure is the “essence of wren” with that perky, upright tail!!!

  5. The third image is a classic…the attitude, the pose, the obvious fact that the feisty little devil is singing his hearts out and GREAT COMPOSITION!!!

  6. I love this series! Wren’s are such perky, sassy-looking little characters! Like Chihuahuas and other little critters, their sense of self and apparent self-confidence seem way out of proportion to their size. The softness of the cattail fluff is a nice counterpoint to the sleekness of that little brown bombshell…(I must admit to thoughts of homicide when, on a very hot summer’s day, I’ve had to listen to a house wren loudly sing the SAME SONG OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND…..)

  7. Very beautiful images.

  8. I like your composition. It would be a shame to discard too much of that photogenic perch. My favorite of the series is the last one because of the singing pose and raised tail. A dynamic image.

  9. Beautiful images – certainly don’t have to worry about human wires and posts when dealing with these little guys!! Great shots Ron, and I love how you got him on a lone cattail.

  10. I love these photos! The Marsh Wren looks full of song even when he’s silent… And I, too, like the song. Thanks for referring us to the Cornell Lab site!

  11. Lovely images… and i like their song too. Thanks!

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