Homeschool Garden Club - Wrens
When bird watching in the garden how do we know which birds we are looking at? One of the ways is to learn who might be visiting and what they look like.
One fo the birds we have recently identified visiting the Orchard Training Homeschool Garden is the Wren. we like this fact for two reason one it is on our spelling list for the silent w and nobody knew what the word meant and 2 they love the bird feeder and we get a good look at them as they come to call. wrens are found all across the UK. It lives in a wide rand of habitats from woodland, farmland, heathland and moorland. we have a lot of trees around us so they have good nesting areas. They are regular visitors to most UK gardens. That last sentence is the important bit. According to Garden Bird Watch data, which has been collected since 1995, they are most frequently seen in March in around 42% of gardens, that means almost half of our garden will have a visit from this lovely little brown bird.
Wrens numbers go up ad down a lot from year to year because really bad winter weather has an effect. To balance this off the wrens have a large number of broods in a year.
Too you think you’ve spotted a Wren in your garden? Here is how to tell.
The wren is a small mostly brown bird. They have all brown colour on the top of their bodies and a brownish-buff colour underneath. The beak is quite long, pointed and if you can get a long good look you might notice that it is slightly turned down. Their eye has a pale line just above it.
Another way to tell if you have a wren is b their call, it is loud. They make a variety of harsh sounds that can be described as churrs, chatters, rattles and scolds. Its scolding alarm call is a rapid cluttering. The wren is also said to be the first bird song of the dawn chorus.
They nest in all sorts of nooks and crannies and with all the trees around us they have plenty of places to find.
We are providing food and fresh water to welcome them in and we have put up nest boxes. Although We can hear noises in the fir tree and we think there is a nest in there. However, we are not sure who has built the nest and we don't want to disturb
The main predator for the wren is the Sparrowhawk (scientific name Accipiter Nisus) which means it is part of the kites, hawks and eagle family group. All of which we look out for on our Walking the River Thames adventures.
Don’t forget to record this in your evidence diary either under Garden Club if you are just feeding these little birds. However, if you are going to listen for them identify them and put up a nest box to encourage them. then this will come under science.
