The Howland Picture Pages: House Wren

Page by Royce

The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is more common in the Calgary area than is the Winter Wren. The House Wren is somewhat larger and lighter in color, and likely is more common since it is happier in a more human-impacted habitat than its "winter" cousin. We don't often seen many Wrens of any kind, but have been more on the lookout for these secretive little birds.

Resources where you can find out more:

• House Wren profile at weaselhead.org
• House Wren profile at CLO including sound sample

"Play time!"	Secretive they may be, but these two House Wrens and another one were very much out and about one Sunday afternoon, August 10, 2003. We were visiting family in the area of Ardrossan, Alberta and this family (presumably) of Wrens was out frolicking for quite some time as we picked peas and beans. I got a much better than usual look at what is normally a tricky bird to see or photograph. EXIF 2.2 photo info: 320 x 236 true color Exposure time: 1/33.20 F-stop: 6.6 ISO speed: 100 Focal length: 71.2000 (with 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Spot Exposure program: Aperture priority Gain control: None Contrast: Normal Saturation: High Sharpness: Hard Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700
"When is the food coming? I'm hungry!"	From the same series as the above photo. This Wren clearly was a youngster, since another one came to feed it numerous times as I watched nearby. While I was checking out the Wrens, a number of other birds came through the immediate area, including a Savannah Sparrow and a Tennessee Warbler. EXIF 2.2 photo info: 320 x 271 true color Exposure time: 1/37.50 F-stop: 4.2 ISO speed: 100 Focal length: 71.2000 (with 1.5X teleconverter) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Spot Exposure program: Normal Gain control: None Contrast: Normal Saturation: High Sharpness: Hard Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700
Caught in the open...	I spotted this House Wren in Fish Creek Provincial Park (Votier's Flats area) on August 11, 2002. I was actually looking for the Winter Wren I had spotted some days earlier in nearly the same spot. I caught a glimpse of the bird only momentarily and was lucky enough to get a picture snapped (with a bit of digital zoom active at the time to help the auto-focus). Only after cataloging the photo later at home did I realize this was a different Wren than what I had been looking for. The call of the Wrens was fairly noticeable in the area of the park where I was finally able to spot them. Getting the sightings was a bit more of a challenge! These birds usually stay down in the brush and quickly flit about in such a way that it is tough to get a clear view. EXIF 2.2 photo info: 320 x 271 true color Exposure time: 1/672.90 F-stop: 7.4 ISO speed: 400 Focal length: 156.6000 (71.2mm with 1.5X teleconverter and 2.2X digital zoom) Exposure mode: Auto White balance: Auto Exposure bias: 0.0000 Metering mode: Spot Exposure program: Normal Gain control: Low gain up Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Camera make: NIKON Camera model: E5700

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