Dear Birders,

I am reviewing a status report on Bewick's wren & am seeking thoughts from
anyone who might have expertise on the status of the wren in MD/DC & the
reason for it's population decline.  While the wren was considered common in
western portions of MD in the 1940s, it has become a rarity.

Has anyone spotted a Bewick's wren in/around DC or eastern portions of MD?
Any suspicions on the reasons for its decline?  I welcome your thoughts if
you'd like to weigh in.

Here is the history I have so far:
During the late 1940s, Hampe and Kolb stated that T.b. altus was a summer
resident & common breeder in western Maryland and that it was rare in the
eastern part of the state. There were no breeding records for Baltimore-DC &
Eastern Shore & only casual breeders in the Piedmont region near Cooksville
and Millers. By the 1970s, it was rarely reported nesting anywhere but
western MD from Garrett through Baltimore counties.

The Atlas of breeding birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia shows
declines in populations of Maryland and DC in the 1960s. By the late 1990s,
Bewick's Wren had disappeared in most places it had once occurred as a
breeding bird and was now considered a rarity (Robbins and Blom 1996). They
note two possible causes of decline: the coinciding population explosion of
the House Wren in these areas & cold weather in recent years.  

Thanks!
Mary

Mary Pfaffko
Wildlife Biologist
Fisheries & Wildlife Division
DC Department of the Environment
51 N St., NE, 5th floor
Washington, DC 20002
202.535.1739