That Erect Tail ! by CavalierLady
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
One of the reasons I am so fond of the Carolina Wren, and haven't been able to show in previous posts is that erect tail of his! He is quite charming, and the following description from birdnature.com explains why he is such an endearing little creature, and also so hard to capture:
"The flight of the Carolina Wren are short flappings of the wings and accompanied by violent jerks of the tail and body. In this manner the Carolina Wren moves from log to log, fence-rail to fence-rail, up and down among low branches of bushes and piles of wood. It's tail is almost constantly erect and before it starts to make the flight or leap, it uses a quick motion, which brings its body almost into contact with the object on which it stands, and then springs from its legs. The quickness of the motions of this active little bird is fully equal to that of the mouse. Like the mouse, it appears in and out of sight in a moment, peeps into a crevice, passes rapidly through it, and shews itself at a different place the next instant."
They prefer to hunt at ground level and it's very unusual to see them up high and drinking from the bird bath like this, but we had an unusually warm 90 degree day last week, and many birds took advantage of the available water supply. Thank you very kindly for your views and comments.

Comments (41)
it is a long time since i have seen a wren, this is a beautiful capture of the king of the birds:)
Beautiful capture. We have them come to the backyard on occasion, and they are fast, in and out as the quotation says. About the time I call attention to our visitor from inside the house, it is gone. I've never seen them more than one at a time.
Ohh it is darn cute. We have such a little fellow around our house and it is such a tiny charming bird. Congratulations on this wonderful shot. I have one in my gallery, but only because it bumped against the window last summer. :-(
Wonderful catch! I love watching them here, too. They are so funny- they just "scream" attitude! A couple of times I've seen them peering in the window from the window sill and wished I had my camera ready- but alas, they are far too speedy for me! Have caught a couple raiding the bird feeder on my window and have managed some shots there- usually while already focused trying to catch the titmice! :o)
That's just an amazing capture! Such clarity!
superb!
Stunning... so crisp!
beautiful ! cute !
Very cute!
wonderful little chap
Fantastic shot my friend.....!!!!!!
Full of character! What a great capture!
stunning photo x 5+
hehe sooo cute ..fantastic capture !
how do you take all these wonderful shots with your doggies? my 3 would be barking from the window LOL love that "at attention" pose - darling!!
Most interesting. I may never have seen one of these wrens up close. The erect tail is perfect for the type of launching, lurching and flying this little guy does. The bird bath comes through again! Great capture...he's probably thinking, "Yikes, I'm undone. My mother told me never to stop for an easy drink."
Cute bird so expertly captured, nice one Tex.
Awesome capture Maria.
Fantastic capture So crisp and clear. :)
LOL!!! I have this little song in my head when I look at this..."I'm a little teapot, short and stout..." :-) How very lovely it is to see this rich brown, tiny bird in such great detail. Fabulous shot.
Sweet capture, and very pretty little bird!
Fabulous shot of this wonderful bird! I can always hear them in my garden but see them less often. They do have a VERY loud voice for such a tiny thing, some people are like that too!
SUPERB!!!
fantastic photo!!!! Sooooo nice little bird!!! with us this pretty bird is called "king of fence". You had really big luck to get him before the camera!
Awesome capture!!
Oh another masterpiece Maria, this is really such a beautiful photo and presentation, and very interesting info! hugs Jane xx
Wonderful image, great capture....I think I would of tried to clone out the dish/bowl.
Wonderful image Maria! Quite different from our little Wrens but the erect tail is classic for ours too
Excellent shot,detail and that a very erect tail! :)
must be a rare shot of this bird. bet it very hard to get in the woods