Welcome back abody 🙂

Do you know this wee bird?

This bird is one of our smallest, but also one of our loudest!

Does it look like the blue tit or great tit? Or like the robin?

Compare their beaks and tail with this bird.

What colours do you see?

This is a wren.

Challenge – can you draw it?

Use this website and check under the letter ‘W’: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildli…/wildlife-guides/…/

Some people call this bird Jenny Wren, which I find puzzling, can you call a male wren Jenny?

One possible explanation is that while the wrens are raising their chicks, the female protects the nest quite ferociously, and shouts…a lot!

Challenge – can you make up a good name for this wee bird?

Time for a Tale – The Wren’s Tail

 

Challenge – what story could you tell about a bird competition?

More intel

Bird Clothes and gear

The wee wren is very well camouflaged with its soft brown and fawn colours. Both the male (Mr and the female (Mrs) look the same.

Beak – it has a long thin beak for probing crevices to find its food. It likes to eat insects and spiders – though apparently it can enjoy the odd tadpole or two as well!

Legs – it has long legs for its size – maybe so it can shout more effectively 🙂 What do you think?

Song –  the wren in this wee film flew up onto a tree, which is unusual behaviour. I think it was busy seeing another wren off!

When you’re out, listen for a bird trilling loudly, and look for mouse-like movement in low lying vegetation…just watch… often the wren will fly up onto a ‘shouty’ prominent branch or log from which to boss everything in sight.

Size – wrens are very little. They’re the same weight as a £1 coin. Although territorial, wrens can only survive cold winters by snuggling up with other wrens – up to 60 birds have been recorded wintering in one nestbox! You’d think the bottom ones would get a wee bitty squidged…

Wrens’ body temperature can fall quite low so that they almost go into hibernation. This means they can conserve precious energy-fat cells and then, when the warmer weather comes, they wake up and go their separate ways.

While I was out walking today I heard 11 different wrens singing – as long as they can survive the harsh winters, wrens are one of the most successful breeding British birds.

Wren young

Wrens make a tiny, cozy globe-nest and lay 5-8 eggs. They are just 1.6 by 1.3cm in size.

Would you recognise this as being a wren chick? I didn’t! Look at its long legs.

This chick was very adventurous. I found it on the grass on the Isle of May*; it kept kamikazi-ing out of the nest well before it was ready to fly!

Can you see it’s covered in fluffy down and is just beginning to develop its flight feathers? The chick could not walk on its ridiculously long legs which makes a chick easy prey. Fortunately, the ranger kept returning it to the nest 🙂

*For your information

The Isle of May is a place where many birds land for a rest on their way somewhere else. But lots of birds nest there as well! Click the link if you want to hear news about what birds have been spotted: https://isleofmaynnr.wordpress.com/

You can also take a boat called The May Princess and visit the island and see amazing wildlife, like this…

 

It would be great to see your drawings, or read your comments or stories on here or on my facebook page 🙂

See you tomorrow!