Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), Pena Blanca Lake, Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz County

This Eastern Winter Wren was discovered and photographed by Gary Graves on 19 February 2011.

Thought to be a rare but annual winter visitor, the newly split Winter Wren has been something of a phenomenon this year with many documented reports.  It is not clear if this represents an increase in its occurrence or the increased attention being paid since it is now a species rather than a subspecies.  Equally surprising is that while this is the tenth Winter Wren documented this winter, only one Pacific Wren has been documented.  Pacific Wren was considered to be more common of the two forms in Arizona. 

Winter Wren has a pale throat and much lighter breast than the darker colored Pacific Wren. They also differ significantly in their call notes.

19 February 2011, photo by Gary Graves

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