The marsh wren - building contractors on steroids

A very vocal marsh wren sings from a bull rush in the Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary near Vernon, BC.

The first time I photographed a marsh wren, I thought it was a Bewick's wren.  The telltale tail identified it as a wren, and they both have a stripe above the eye.  Marsh wrens, however, have a checkered back pattern that Bewick's does not.  And then there is location.

Marsh wrens - guess where they live?  In marshes.  I have only ever seen them around cattails, often lurking unseen inside some dense thicket of leaves and stems.  Their song (click here for a video) is distinctive.  I photographed the above birds while kayaking at Swan Lake near Vernon, and as we paddled along the edge of the reed bed, we could hear their numerous calls.  

Marsh wren males are aggressive nest builders.  Their nests are bulbous, covered structures with a hole in them (click here for image) for the awaiting female.  And, as amazing as they are, they don't build only one; they build five or more.  He then courts a potential mate, and she lines the nest and lays her eggs.  The kicker is that he may mate with other females.  After all, he has built a bit of a housing complex, so why not make use of it?

The mated pair(s) defend their nest area aggressively.  They may stray into another's territory and destroy eggs or chicks.  The male, it seems, is a building contractor with an attitude.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericpix.com