Bewick's Wren

Thryomanes bewickii (Audubon)

This wren is seldom reported as victimized by the brown-headed cowbird, but 4 of its subspecies—T. b. bewickii, T. b. cryptus, T. b. alius, and T. b. calophonus—are involved in the 8 previously known instances (Friedmann, 1971:243). We may now add 6 more records, as follows. To the single previous case of T. b. calophonus as a victim (Friedmann, 1971:243) may be added 4 more: Lemon (1969:395) found a parasitized nest at Victoria, southern Vancouver Island, on 12 June 1967, and 3 additional cases from the same area since then have been reported to us by J. B. Tatum, suggesting that in southern Vancouver Island this wren may be more frequently parasitized than it is known to be elsewhere. In the nest reported by Lemon, the wrens reared the young parasite but none of their own young.

A third record for the nominate race of the wren, observed in Tennessee (Cornell University nest record cards), is also mentioned in Lemon's paper. Finally, an additional instance of the race T. b. cryptus as a cowbird victim is a parasitized set of eggs, taken at San Angelo, Tom Green County, Texas, 30 April 1954, in the collection of the Delaware Museum of Natural History.

CAROLINA WREN