What is the South Carolina State Bird?

What is the South Carolina State Bird?

Carolina wren is the state bird of South Carolina. South Carolina titled the Carolina wren as the official state bird of South Carolinain 1948. Originally, the official state bird of South Carolina used to be the mockingbird (adopted in 1942). The Carolina wren swapped the place with mockingbird. The Carolina wren is a small bird. It has noticeable white streaks above the eyes.

The back side of its body is brownish-red in color and its tail is magnificently striped with black color. This tiny bird may be shy in nature, but it can deliver an impressive number of decibles considering its size. Male Carolina wrens sing a series of several quick whistled notes. It can be described as ” tea-ket-tle, tea-ket-tle, tea-ket-tle”. The song can be heard all year-round, dawn to dusk, in all weathers.

State Bird of South Carolina Facts —

  • Common name: Carolina Wren
  • Scientific name: Thryothorusludovicianus
  • Habitat: Brushy thickets, swamps, bottomland woods, shrubby wooded residential areas, overgrown farmlands, and brushy suburban yards
  • Diet: Insects and spiders, caterpillars, moth, beetles, grasshoppers, stick bugs, crickets etc.
  • Song and Calls: Male Carolina wrens sing a series of several quick whistled notes.
  • Weight: 18-22 g
  • Length: 12-14 cm
  • Wingspan: 29 cm
  • Average lifespan: 6 years
  • Incubation period: 12-16 days

South Carolina’s state bird,The Carolina Wren is a vigorous, generalist species that frequents homes and gardens, as well as wilder habitats. Found typically in the eastern United States and Central America, it is most common in the southern United States where every patch of woods seems to be inhabited by this nervous, often timid permanent resident. Carolina Wrens usually wander around alone or in pairs; after nestlings have fledged.

Feeding on or near the ground, the wrens run, hop, and flutter around leaf litter and tangled vegetation. They dodge in and out of shady spaces created by downed trees, decaying logs, old stumps, and upturned roots. They climb up vines, trunks, and branches, poking into squirrel nests and snooping around nooks and crannies in search of insects. Carolina Wrens use their arched bills to turn over moldering vegetation and to hammer and shake apart large bugs. They roost in bird boxes, discarded hornet nests, hanging plants, garages, barns, old nests, and other shelters.

The Carolina Wren is sensitive to cold temperature and that’s why the northern population of this bird has been observed to decrease noticeably after severe winters. The slowly but surely increasing winter temperatures over the last century may have been responsible for the northward range expansion seen in the mid-1900s.Unlike other wren species in the Thryothorus genus, only the male Carolina Wren sings the loud song. In other species, such as the Stripe-breasted Wren of Central America, both members of a pair sing jointly.

The male and female birds sing different parts of the song, and usually interweave their songs such that they sound like a single bird singing.One caged male Carolina Wren sang nearly 3,000 times in a single day. Carolina wrens are monogamous in nature, and the breeding pairs may stay together for years. They work together to construct nests that may be found almost anywhere. Wrens build nests in natural locations such as branches, tree-holes, and stumps but also frequent windowsills, mailboxes or other eye-catching human-made spots.

Females lay about four eggs and incubate the eggs for two weeks while their mates bring them food. Both parents feed their chicks for an extra two weeks before they gain independence. A mating pair of Carolina wrens may have several broods every year.The law entitling the Carolina wren as the official South Carolina state bird is Section 1-1-630 (Official State bird) of the South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 1 (Administration of the Government) Chapter 1 (GENERAL PROVISIONS) Article 9 (STATE EMBLEMS, PLEDGE TO STATE FLAG, OFFICIAL OBSERVANCES) Section 1-1-630.

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