What’s a nice, Carolina Wren like you doing in a Place Like This?
This winter, Lana and I wanted to liven up our backyard around the “inactive” swimming pool. So, we installed (I admit, Lana installed…) a couple of additional bird feeders. Man, did that do the trick! In fact, it was that one act of kindness by my wife that led to this particular art series—Birds Inspire.
The most excited of all of the visitors to Johnson’s Free Buffet was a very small songbird called the Carolina Wren. Slightly smaller than a sparrow, but certainly larger than the hummingbird.
Although they are the State Bird of South Carolina they are year-round residents of the southeastern United States and in the past decade have been expanding slightly northwestward.
There were three things that I noticed immediately upon their arrival:
They seemed to hop more than they flew. And, when they did fly it was not very high nor very far.
They sang like crazy! Well, the males did anyway. I have heard their incessant caroling before but never specifically identified who the vocalists were until now. In fact, the first time I heard them singing, I thought, “How could that many decibels come from those miniature birds?” Amazing, indeed!
And one more thing I noticed: they have the cutest curved white eyebrows!
See how scientifically observant I am? Well, as usual, this caused me to want to study a little more about Carolina Wrens.
Another detail view of the mixed-media piece (graphite, watercolor, and gouache)
These lively, feathered friends love to explore brushy thickets and low tangles. That sort of explains why they ended up in my backyard. We have a fairly groomed yard but immediately adjacent to us in the back is an alleyway that is really grown up with underbrush below and trees above—the ideal homestead for these birds.
I mentioned earlier that they seemed to “hop” along more than “fly” and “soar”. I discovered that the Carolina Wren is a rather weak flyer, so it typically makes brief, quick, aerial forays over short distances. So, they do hop a lot—much more than walking.
Male and female Carolina Wrens build their nests as a team. One member of the pair may stay at the site while the other gathers material. The couple typically mates for life and usually nests in various cavities including natural hollows in trees or stumps, old woodpecker holes, sometimes in the middle of a brush pile, a crevice of a building, as well as nest boxes. Usually, they build their homes no more than about 10” off of the ground. Their nest is usually a bulky mass of twigs, leaves, weeds, and an array of found objects.
“Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. —Psalm 104:12”
This finished mixed-media piece, approximately 14”w x 10”h, can be viewed along with other works at Sienna Cloud Creative, 113 North Three Notch Street in Troy, Alabama. (BY APPOINTMENT ONLY)