Sharp-shinned Hawk
Late this morning a relatively small but stocky bird with a long tail, flying into a strong wind, spread its wings and settled in the top branches of a pecan tree. It was a Sharp-shinned Hawk, its body compact, its round head small in proportion to the body, with a very long tail showing dark and light gray bands. The back looked gray, and its breast looked pale and colorless, but I wasn’t close enough to see its plumage or features in detail. When a Crow flew by just on the other side of the tree, the hawk looked very small in comparison. After watching it sit quietly for three or four minutes, I moved a step closer – and it immediately flew, with the neat, compact flapping characteristic of a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Because it was again flying into a strong wind, it didn’t glide much, if at all, before it flew out of sight behind more trees and houses.
A little further down the road, two Chimney Swifts flew over, twittering – the first ones I’ve seen here this season. And House Wrens also have arrived. One sang its effervescent song around the back deck of our house this morning, and I also heard at least four or five more singing in other places in the neighborhood.
I have mixed feelings about the House Wrens. They’re relatively new birds in our neighborhood, rapidly becoming common during spring and summer over the past decade. Their songs are cheery, but can become monotonous, and they are known as “fierce competitors for nest holes.” The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” website notes that they “will harass and peck at much larger birds, sometimes dragging eggs and young out of a nest site they want – even occasionally killing adult birds. In some areas they are the main source of nest failure for bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Prothonotary Warblers, and chickadees.”
I have not found any reference to House Wrens posing a threat to Carolina Wrens, which are pretty feisty and aggressive themselves, and their populations seem to be expanding and in no apparent danger. But I would definitely be sorry if House Wrens became more common here and Carolina Wrens less – even if it’s only in our neighborhood or around our own yard. Though so common it’s often overlooked, a Carolina Wren’s song is one of the most beautiful gifts of any day.