Bewick's Wren - Western Birds

A pair of Bewick's Wrens, Crystal Cove State Park; 6/14/2011.

I hit the magic #300 on my Life List when I saw a pair of Bewick's Wrens foraging in the mesquite thickets of  Crystal Cove State Park.  These are a medium sized wren that can be found year round from the Northwest corner of Washingon State angling southeast into Oklahoma and Texas. In the summers they'll stretch their range a bit east into Missourri and Kentucky. Bewick's have a very long bold white eyebrow set against a brown head (crown and cheeks). They have a brown back, wings and tail, with lighter grayish underparts. Like all wrens they have their characteristic long slightly curved bill.

Another Bewick's Wren, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, CA; 6/18/2011.

A few days later while hiking on Santa Cruz Island of the Channel Islands National Park, I heard a familiar song from a bird in the distance - another Bewick's Wren (Above).  It was sitting on a rock at a quite a distance away. I tried to gradually inch myself closer to get a better picture, but it disappeared over the bluff leading to the ocean. If I didn't hear it sing, I might have mistaken it for a Canyon Wren, but it also didn't have the Canyon's Wren's rufous belly.