Last night, just before dusk, I took a stroll round the garden. Above me, perched right on top of the Weeping Willow tree, there was a bird singing its little heart out. At first I thought it must be a blackbird as they like to position themselves at a height and seranade the world with their strong, melodic vocals. However, when I stepped back and looked up it was a tiny wren!Facts I found out about the Wren
* Its latin name is Troglodytes troglodytes. Big title for a tiny bird.
* There are over 10 million wrens in the U.K. alone!
* Their vibrant song can be heard a kilometer away!
* When a Wren sings if you look closely then you can notice it shakes with effort because of the high pitch and loud capacity.
* Wrens are one of the smallest birds and measure nine to ten centimeters long (9-10cm) and weigh eight to thirteen grams (8-13g)
* A wren chick eats 500-600 meals in a day! The mother barely get time to feed herself.
* The male builds several nests and the female chooses one in which to lay her eggs.
* The wren lays 2 clutches of eggs per breeding season, 5-8 eggs in each clutch.
Although vast numbers of wrens die during a severe Winter, the large number of eggs they produce helps maintain their population.
Some Biology
The reason a bird a small as the Wren sings so loudly is because the syrinx is a resonant cavity which maintains or amplifies the notes.
Own up.... who said, "Awwwwwww" when daddy couldn't get the twig in the nestbox? :D
