northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's a Carolina Wren I met last March. I'm a little surprised to realize that this is the 1st Carolina Wren post I've done [1]. I did show a House Wren before, which is in the same family if not the same genus. Before anyone asks when I was in the Carolinas, the name Carolina Wren doesn't represent the range of this species very well. Imagine a quadrilateral formed from New Hampshire, Florida, Texas, and Iowa, and you'll have a better sense of where this bird can be found [2]. This is a fairly big range with a variety of climates, and since this bird doesn't migrate [3] it must deal with these variations as best it can. One consequence is that a brutal winter can seriously deplete the northern population, though they seem to be expanding northward as our winters become milder. Their plan is to mate for life, though most birds that do this will look for another mate if their spouse dies. If you hear someone repetitively yelling "teakettle" in the w...