This is a belated report (I just joined the list yesterday), but I thought it might be worth posting. I'm a pretty new birder and am still learning how to ID. I know my backyard birds -- all the usual suspects. I live on Lowell St. about 4 blocks south of Hickory Hill Park in Iowa City.
On June 1 around 5 p.m. I heard an unfamiliar but loud and very lovely song in my backyard, but I could not locate the bird. I transliterated the song as "diggety-diggety-diggety," very musical. The following evening around the same time I heard it again and this time was able to spot it very high on a branch in my locust tree. I got a fairly good look at it through my binocs -- plump round body, long barred cocked tail, white eyebrow stripe, long bill. My various field guides and Cornell Lab led me to Carolina Wren -- and I learned that the song is actually "teakettle-teakettle-teakettle." :) I didn't hear or see it again until June 25 around 6:30 a.m. I heard some chittering and located a small bird on top of my neighbor's fence at the back of my yard. It flitted to my suet feeder and sure enough it was the Carolina Wren -- it broke off a hunk of suet and flew back to the fence with it, and suddenly there was another, who took the suet from the other's bill. And then there were 2 more -- I saw a total of 4, but there may have been more on the other side of the fence in the brush. I'm pretty sure it was two adults and two fledglings. One of the adults helped itself to my suet several times, flying back to its family with the goods. It's fun to think that they nested almost in my backyard! I haven't seen or heard them since, although sometimes I wonder if what I think is a Tufted Titmouse or even a Northern Cardinal might be one of the Wrens. I have many House Wrens in my neighborhood, but this was my first sighting of a Carolina Wren. Elizabeth Aubrey --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
