Page 32 - Black Range Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 2
P. 32

 The Melodic Canyon
Wren 

by Stephen Siegfried
It’s hard to quibble with the decisin of the state Legislature on March 16, 1949, to designate the roadrunner as the New Mexico state bird. Residents of the Land of Enchantment, including the state’s lawmakers, were taken by the antics and plumage of this commonly seen, long- tailed cuckoo long before the bird out- raced a cartoon coyote. The choice, though, was one of sight, not sound. Had those same legislators taken their vote with eyes closed beside a watercourse in one of the state’s upland canyons, and not in the City of Holy Faith, the state bird
most likely would be a little brown wren that makes the sweetest sounds this side of heaven.



The Canyon Wren, (Catherpes mexicanus conspersus) is common in New Mexico throughout the year, and wrens from the northern Rocky Mountains winter in the southwestern Unites States and Mexico. The bird is predominatly brown dorsally, with a white breast and throat. The belly below the white bib is a dark reddish- brown, as is the tail. Variations in hue exist between individuals. Males and females are similarly marked, and adults are commonly 5 inches to 5 3/4 inches in length. The bill, as with all wrens, is long, slender and curved down at the end. The species is sometimes confused with the
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