IBRC 66-B-10

Idaho Bird Records Committee Rarities Report Form

Species: Bewick’s Wren (15 individuals; 8 in Green Canyon and 7 in Black Pine Canyon)

Reporter: Jay Carlisle

989 W. Sherwood, Boise, ID 83706

jaycarlisle@boisestate.edu

Other Observers: Heidi Ware

Date Report Prepared: 7-28-10

Date Sighting Occurred: 7-10-10

Locality of Observation: Green and Black Pine canyons, Cassia County

Habitat: pinyon pine/juniper woodland in Green Canyon; patches of live juniper woodland and recently burned junipers/grassland in Black Pine canyon

Conditions: clear and cool in early morning; we visually observed 9 of the birds (2 in Green and 7 in Black Pine) at distances between 3-20 meters

Did you take notes? no

Did you consult a field guide or other reference work? yes

What guide(s) or reference(s) did you consult? National Geographic & Sibley

Description: I first heard one bird singing an irregular series of ringing notes at dawn from my tent. The bird sang repeatedly for 20 or more minutes. Having most recently heard a Bewick’s Wren of a different subspecies (in N Idaho in April), it took a moment to realize that it could be a Bewick’s. As we started to explore Green Canyon, we encountered several additional singing birds that we strongly suspected to be Bewick’s … and territories seemed to be somewhat regularly spaced at 150-200m intervals. After 45 min or so, we finally stopped in a territory and waited for a singing bird to climb to a high perch and could see a 5-6” bird with a brownish-gray back; whitish chest with a long, cocked tail; a long and relatively thin bill; and a distinct, white supercilium. We soon watched a 2^nd wren (female?) come near to the songster and both started giving a scolding call back & forth. We continued exploring Green Canyon (either side of about ½ mile of dirt road) and ended up hearing a total of 7 unique singing birds (including the 1 we saw) plus the presumed female. Though all songs were similar and it would be hard to put differences into words, we could observe that songs varied a bit among individuals.

We then moved into Black Pine Canyon and, while looking for orioles in a partially-burned juniper stand, we heard a number of scolding notes and soon observed a presumed family group of 6 Bewick’s Wrens. Though neither of us were able to study all 6 individuals in detail, I was able to confirm that at least one bird was a recently-fledged juvenile based on the presence of yellowish flesh on the gape, loosely-structured plumage all over the body, and begging behavior … thus strongly suggesting that this group of 6 was a family group. This group was ~ 1.25 miles N on Black Pine Canyon Rd. Further up Black Pine Canyon another mile or so, we heard and saw another Bewick’s Wren singing in a burned area – making for a total of 7 birds in this canyon.

Behavior: See above – many birds singing plus the one family group in Black Pine Canyon.

How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you? After hearing several individuals singing, I was strongly suspecting the ID but glad to finally get a good view of the singing male and calling female in Green Canyon. The close views of the very vocal family group also allowed great looks at the white supercilium, long tail, long bill, and brownish-gray plumage.

How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they? Similar sounding birds can especially include Song Sparrow (very unlikely in desert woodlands), though I think of Song Sparrow songs as being more similar to the northwestern subspecies of Bewick’s. Within the pinyon/juniper woodland, there are no species especially similar looking to a Bewick’s Wren. Generally similar-looking birds can include sparrows and other wrens but none have the combination of the white supercilium, long (often cocked) tail, and brownish-gray coloration.

Experience with this species (and similar species): I have seen Bewick’s Wrens in many western states from Texas to Washington, including several previous sightings in Idaho.

General birding experience: extensive; 14+ years in US and Latin America

Were photo(s), video, and/or audio obtained by you? (If yes, please include or attach) No.