[EBB Sightings] Marsh Wren singing at Coyote - pic

[EBB Sightings] Marsh Wren singing at Coyote - pic

Verne Nelson
Tue Feb 23 14:37:33 PST 2010
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The marsh at Coyote is coming into spring and with it the songs of the Marsh Wrens are everywhere amongst the reeds. ?The season also brings them into view perching on stems and belting out songs.

This one was an easy and close view at the end of the wooden causeway (with benches) that leads from the parking lot of the Visitor's Center.

http://www.pbase.com/image/122241298

They lead busy and fascinating lives.  According to Ehrlich's "Birder's Handbook" they are polygynous. "Western birds sing 110-210 songs each. Oft destroy eggs and nestlings of other Marsh Wrens and of marsh-nesting blackbirds; blackbirds recognize Marsh Wren as enemy and destroy wren's eggs. Male builds 14-22 nests, only 1-3 used for nesting. Male sings at night. Female broods. Roost in dummy nests in nonbreeding season."

How observers every figured all that out given the density of the reeds is a tribute to ornithology.
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