Wrens Again

I had a few more Carolina Wren pictures I thought helped give an idea of their jaunty little personalities. In this winter shot, you can see the short, cocked tail and the relatively long, recurved bill. They will come to the feeder occasionally although I don't think it is for the seeds. They like peanuts. Only problem is they have to break them into smaller pieces and therein lies the rub. When they hammer a peanut with that beak, the peanut usually goes skittering off without breaking. But they are persistent and usually keep at it until they eat the entire peanut. That "pellet," by the way belongs to a squirrel or some other animal.

I have to wonder, Where do they get these awful bugs? I'm just glad she (or he) got it before it came in the house. That is a side benefit of having birds around the home. They eat lots of bugs. Think mosquitoes.

Bringing in more grub for the family. I have always liked the simple lines of this image. They don't mind being in close association with people, especially if you don't move around a lot. Carolina Wrens are almost the only wren I have ever seen around our house, although House Wrens are also suppose to be in this area. The white eye stripe is a good indicator of a Carolina. Last winter I did see a winter wren. They are considerably smaller in size.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I vacationed with my brother and his wife at a state park. We stayed in one of a couple dozen neat little cabins on a mountain lake. The light on the ceiling of the back porch attracted a lot of moths at night. Apparently the local wrens had learned that this was true.

The wren would fly up to the light and grab a moth, then land on whatever was handy and pick it apart.

It didn't like the wings, however, and would shake the moth and break them off. Probably a little too dry or dusty. It continued eating moths until there were none left.