Bewick's Wren

About the Bewick's Wren

Bewick's Wren is the busybody of Central Texas brush - a slim, gray-brown wren with a bold white eyebrow and a long tail that never stops moving, flicked and fanned sideways as the bird works through every tangle, brush pile, and shed it can find.

In much of the country this species has declined seriously, pushed out of the East almost entirely - but Texas remains a stronghold, and in Hill Country neighborhoods it is still one of the most familiar backyard birds, investigating garages, flower pots, and woodpiles with total confidence.

The song is the giveaway all year: a bright, complicated performance of buzzes and musical trills that sounds a little like a Song Sparrow that took extra lessons. Males sing from exposed perches even in winter, and each bird carries a repertoire of variations.

Nests go into any cavity that will hold one - a nest box, a pipe, a coat pocket left in the garage. For a bird photographed on his home ground, this one is fitting: few species say "Texas backyard" more completely.