Eurasian Wren, Chochín

Description:

Very small bird, 9- to 10.5-cm-long. The wren is rufous brown above, greyer beneath, barred with darker brown and grey, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, the legs pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred. The plumage is subject to considerable variation, and where populations have been isolated, the variation has become fixed in one minor form or another. There are around 27 subspecies of this taxonomically complex bird. It is mouse-like, easily lost sight of when it is hunting for food, but is found everywhere from the tops of the highest moors to the sea coast.Its movements as it creeps or climbs are incessant rather than rapid; its short flights swift and direct but not sustained, its tiny round wings whirring as it flies from bush to bush. When this bird is annoyed or excited, its call runs into an emphatic churr, not unlike clockwork running down. Its song is a gushing burst of sweet music, loud and emphatic. It has an enormous voice for its size.

Habitat:

It is a bird of the uplands even in winter, vanishing into the heather when snow lies thick above, a troglodyte indeed. It frequents gardens and farms, but it is quite as abundant in thick woods and in reed-beds. Spotted on a rocky sea shore with bushes.

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/250 sec.; f/8; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Focal Length: 300.0 mm. No flash fired.