By Sally Siko

While birding near my home in central NC last month, I heard a familiar call emanating from the brush.
Thanks to a previously frustrating experience of trying to locate this species in the mountains of western NC this past spring, the song and calls of the Winter Wren have been permanently burned into my memory.
I’d spent nearly half a day attempting to get a good photograph of a Winter Wren earlier this year, a challenge which paid off in the end but not without headaches lol!
I swear this species can throw its voice like a ventriloquist, which makes trying to find one in a mass of tangled, dark undergrowth, nearly impossible.
Happily, yesterday this bird was far more cooperative than its mountain brethren and even flew out into the open onto a bare branch, which finally yielded a great opportunity to get some decent photos.

Measuring about 3.5” long from beak to tail, Winter Wrens are North Carolina’s smallest species of wren.
These tiny feisty dynamos are secretive little birds of dense woods. They often creep about among fallen logs and dense tangles, behaving more like a chipmunk than a bird, mostly remaining out of sight but (thankfully!) giving an occasional “kimp, kimp” call note every now and again.
Always on the lookout for a meal, they primarily eat insects, millipedes, spiders, and other organisms that fall under the general “bug” category. When insects are scarce they’ll also occasionally eat berries or seeds.

Usually, Winter Wrens live close to the ground, but during the spring males will ascend to high perches in the conifers to give voice to a beautiful song of long-running musical trills.
Look (and listen!) for them during the summer along the spine of the Appalachian mountains during the spring and summer, and now throughout the rest of the state during the winter months.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5