Larch Creek Birds

What the birds (and frogs) are saying at a creek in western Washington
Plate 26
Canyon Wren
Henry Nehrling, Our Native Birds of Song and Beauty, 1893 · No restrictions
Bird

Canyon Wren

Catherpes mexicanus
Wrens (Troglodytidae)
Unexpected now
Not expected here. The range model gives this species almost no chance at the creek in any season. Treat these detections with suspicion.
Field marks
A rusty wren with a gleaming white throat, a long thin bill and a flattened head for posting itself into rock crevices.
Male & female
Alike.
Voice
A cascade of clear, sweet whistles tumbling down the scale like something falling down a very musical staircase, ending in a few rasps. One of the great songs of the West.
Diet
Insects and spiders picked from rock faces.
Habitat
Cliffs, canyons and rock outcrops, usually in dry country east of the Cascades.
Nesting
A cup of twigs and moss in a rock crevice or building; 4–6 eggs.
Size
4½–6 in long, about four tenths of an ounce: a AAA battery that has learned to sing.

Very unusual in the Puget lowlands. A Pacific Wren or Bewick's Wren in full voice is a likelier explanation for most detections here, and the site says so.

Season how expected it is here, week by week

50%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecheard at the creektoday
Fig. 1. BirdNET's range model for this location: the chance this species is present in each week of the year. Orange ticks mark weeks it has actually been heard at the creek; the dashed line is today.

At the creek 9 calls on 2 days, first Oct 29, last Oct 31

2400:00 — 0 calls001:00 — 0 calls02:00 — 0 calls03:00 — 0 calls304:00 — 0 calls05:00 — 0 calls06:00 — 0 calls607:00 — 0 calls08:00 — 0 calls09:00 — 3 calls910:00 — 0 calls11:00 — 0 calls12:00 — 4 calls1213:00 — 0 calls14:00 — 0 calls15:00 — 0 calls1516:00 — 1 calls17:00 — 1 calls18:00 — 0 calls1819:00 — 0 calls20:00 — 0 calls21:00 — 0 calls2122:00 — 0 calls23:00 — 0 callssunrisesunset
Fig. 2. When it calls: all detections by hour of day (today's sunrise and sunset shown).
25Oct 2 — 0 callsOct 3 — 0 callsOct 3Oct 4 — 0 callsOct 5 — 0 callsOct 6 — 0 callsOct 7 — 0 callsOct 8 — 0 callsOct 9 — 0 callsOct 10 — 0 callsOct 10Oct 11 — 0 callsOct 12 — 0 callsOct 13 — 0 callsOct 14 — 0 callsOct 15 — 0 callsOct 16 — 0 callsOct 17 — 0 callsOct 17Oct 18 — 0 callsOct 19 — 0 callsOct 20 — 0 callsOct 21 — 0 callsOct 22 — 0 callsOct 23 — 0 callsOct 24 — 0 callsOct 24Oct 25 — 0 callsOct 26 — 0 callsOct 27 — 0 callsOct 28 — 0 callsOct 29 — 4 callsOct 30 — 0 callsOct 31 — 5 callsOct 31
Fig. 3. Calls per day over the last 30 days.

Recordings

Clearest recording · Oct 31 12:01 pm · 95% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 31 4:12 pm · 87% sure
spectrogram
Recent · Oct 29 9:31 am · 92% sure
spectrogram

From the encyclopedia

The canyon wren is a small North American songbird of the wren family Troglodytidae. A non-migratory species, these birds are found throughout western North America in dry, rocky environments such as cliffs, outcrops, and canyons. It is a small bird that is hard to see on its rocky habitat, and is often located by its loud distinctive song. It is currently in a monotypic taxon and is the only species in the genus Catherpes.
From Wikipedia, "Canyon wren", CC BY-SA 4.0.