Thanks Netta. I think I am going to have to agree with my wife that this was definitely not a Bewick's. Unfortunately, no one else is coming up with anything else as a guess, which really surprises me. We have seen hundreds of Bewick's, and my wife says that this bird was larger, not shaped the same, and had no barring on the undersides like you see on a Bewick's. I mean, when you've seen a totally common bird (for Seattle anyway) like the Bewick's, you get a real good idea of what it is and what it isn't. I don't think anything about my wifes description says Bewick's except bill shape and maybe the song. I have heard dozens of vocalizations from Bewick's, and this isn't one of them, but they have over 100 vocalizations, so that is a very remote possible song, but I believe that everyone is pushing us towards the wrong bird.
If anyone else has any ideas outside of the Bewick's Wren, we'd love to hear it. Otheriwse, I guess we'll just have to hope we see the bird in the 'hood again in the next few days.
Thanks to all who responded thus far, and who might respond yet.
Brett A. Wolfe gismybabe at yahoo.com Seattle, WA
Netta Smith <nettasmith at attbi.com> wrote:Brett and tweeters,

I'll vote for your unidentified bird being a Bewick's Wren. The
vocalization sounds like a song to me rather than a call note, and it's
quite within the range of variation of Bewick's, in fact the description
strikes me as a Bewick's song. Nothing about the description is at odds
with this, as such a bird might sit upright with tail down while singing,
counter to our usual picture of a wren with tail cocked up.

Bewick's Wren is one of the few species of this area that might be singing
right now, as they maintain year-round territories. I can't imagine a
vagrant or migrant of any species singing in November.

Dennis Paulson
--
Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115



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