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Surveying Wrens

The Survey Protocol
During the breeding season, birds are most active in the morning. Between March 1 and October 31 please survey in the morning only, between sunrise and 10 am. Between November 1 and February 28 you may survey at any time during daylight hours. When the temperature is particularly cold, birds may not be active until late in the day.

Once you have picked a point where you will stand and survey, take a minute to set up. Get your binocular, field data forms, and playback device ready. Fill out the header information on the data form. This will give the birds a chance to settle down and become accustomed to your presence. You may work as a team, with one person observing birds and the other recording data.

Once you press play the 6-min survey period begins. The playback will go through a prerecorded sequence of wren vocalizations interspersed with silence and ending with a high-pitched tone to let you know that time is up. There is no need to select tracks once you press play, do not stop the playback even when you see a bird, and do not play the tracks out of sequence. The minutes of silence provide an opportunity to listen for a response from wrens, but be sure to be alert for birds at all times during the six minutes. The sequence is as follows:

1 minute of Bewick’s Wren songs and calls
1 minute listening period
1 minute of House Wren songs and calls
1 minute listening period
1 minute of Carolina Wren songs and calls
1 minute listening period
Ending tone

Once the 6-mintue survey period is over you should proceed to another survey point. If you absolutely need another look at a bird to determine its identity you may select a track to play. However, please be aware that when a bird responds to playback its normal routine is disrupted. Too much disturbance can be detrimental. Do not overplay vocalizations or play them when not surveying. Please use common sense and keep the bird’s well being in mind.

Survey each point 2 to 4 times per season for at least two seasons (winter, spring, summer, or fall). Survey all points the same number of times per season. It is better to survey fewer points more often than more points less often. Repeat visits help us model the probability of occurrence of a species.

You will find a 3-page printer-friendly PDF version of these survey instructions here. You may want to print this out to take into the field.

Field Data Form

The Field Data Form consists of two pages, one for surveying wrens and the other for measuring habitat. Before you begin surveying a particular point fill out the top of the “Bewick’s Wren Survey Form.”

Write:

  • Your name
  • Point number (your three initials and a sequential double digit)
  • Survey date and time
  • County in which you are surveying
  • Coordinates of the survey point in lattitude and longitute or UTM (easting and northing). Indicate whether you determined the coordinates from a map or a GPS unit.

After you begin the playback record:

  • The number of individual wrens of each species that you observe. Record each individual only once during the 6-minute survey period. Use hash marks (e.g. “|||” = 3 birds) in the appropriate row for that species and playback period. If you are not sure which wren species you encountered, please enter details of what you saw and heard in the Comments column. Make an attempt to identify the wren during or after the survey.
  • If you detect a wren note its response to your playback using the codes provided: AP (Approach), wren approached the survey area, did not respond vocally; VC (Vocal), wren responded vocally to the playback, BO (Both), wren both approached the survey area and responded vocally to the playback; FL (Fled), wren fled from playback; or NO (None), wren did not seem to respond directly to playback.
  • Please include any comments that you think might be of interest and be as thorough as possible. Examples include; subspecies of Bewick’s Wren (Eastern – reddish brown, Western grayish brown; very important), sex of the Wren, presence of predators, presence of Brown-headed Cowbirds, evidence of nesting, behavior, etc. If more space is needed, continue comment on back or a separate sheet of paper and attach.

Next section – Measuring Habitat

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