BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles.

Just a few days ago, the Sunday morning bird group clustered near the Quaker Cemetery on Upper Vestal Street trying to track down a song. So many times it's an audible clue that leads us to a bird. This one was hard to ignore - a rapid rising then falling burbling toodle every few seconds. Realizing the sound was moving, I tracked the source with my ears and picked out a tiny mite whirring through the sky and landing atop a tree that was just leafing out. We had found ourselves a House Wren.

Over almost all this country and southern Canada, this would be no big deal. House Wrens coexist well with humans and are difficult to ignore. They're rarely silent at this time of year and are well adapted to living in close quarters with us. But on Nantucket, they are rare in the spring and uncommon in the fall and have never nested successfully. Males arrive and set up territory, advertising with their song, but Mrs. Right never seems to appear. They do nest as close as the Cape and the Vineyard.

Visually House Wrens are the epitome of be nondescriptiveness. They are brown all over, slightly darker above than below. Their wings and oftencocked tail are faintly barred and there is a hint of an eyeline and eyering. The bill is long and slightly down-curved. They are smaller than a sparrow and very insubstantial. Perhaps you know some people like this - very easy to ignore until they open their mouths!

They carry the scientific name of Troglodytes aedon. Troglodytes translates from the Greek as 'cave diver,' and refers to this bird's tendency to dive into the brush and disappear. It also refers to the cave-like nests that they make. The name Troglodytes is also the chimpanzee connection because the Common Chimpanzee's scientific name is Pan troglodytes. It's hard to imagine what the German doctor, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, may have been thinking to give this name to a small ape, but then he was also the first scientist to study the Duck-billed Platypus. He may still have been in shock from studying that strange egg-laying, venomous mammal with a bill like a duck.

Anyhow, our tiny House Wrens are always bustling with activity. When the males return from the south they are immediately singing to establish a territory. These songs define borders to be defended from neighboring wrens and also attract an appropriate female when she arrives a week or so later.

When not singing, the males are building nests. House Wrens are cavity nesters and adapt readily to most any bird box you might put up for them. Wrens are so tiny you can have an opening as small as seven-eighths of an inch, making the house unusable by those aggressive House Sparrows that might compete with them.

In all his energy and enthusiasm Mr. Wren may start building several nests in his territory. When his mate arrives she picks one of them out and then often proceeds to redecorate, tossing out most of the sticks and other items he's crammed into the box. Then she provides the finishing touches, bringing in finer and softer items to line the area, where six to eight eggs will be laid.

Once she starts incubating, her husband continues busily singing and working on other nests, sometimes attracting a second mate in the process. This frantic lifestyle, along with the necessity to migrate makes long life a rare event. The oldest known House Wren was seven years old.

As I mentioned earlier, you can find these wrens all over the U.S. and southern Canada. But they also live through the West Indies and Central and South America all the way to the southern tip. Through the wonder of the Internet, I was able to listen to the song of a House Wren in Petropolis, Brazil and hear how similar it was to the one we heard just a few days ago.

This tiny little brown job makes an impression wherever it goes. Some of you may remember the character on "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," King Friday XIII, who carried a scepter with a wren at the top. The King sang a song about it, even working in the scientific name, Troglodytes aedon, not an easy rhyme.

On Nantucket we'll be hearing this bubbling song for another few weeks. They pass our way again on their return journey from September to November. A few may even hang around to be found on our Christmas Bird Count. But then they are shy and retiring, perhaps resting up for the frantic pace they'll have to maintain when it's time to nest again.

The Maria Mitchell Association sponsors bird walks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 a.m. and Saturday mornings starting at 8 a.m., from the corner of Vestal and Milk Streets. There is a fee for non-members.

To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805.

Find more about Birding Nantucket on the web at http://k-blackshaw.com/BN/BN.htm