In the mid-80s I was travelling regularly to Vicksburg, Mississippi with my work -- I went out birding a few times with some members of the "Vicksbirders" club. They told me that at that time, Bewick's Wrens were rapidly retreating from their state and could be found (with luck) only around Jackson. They predicted it would be gone from east of the Mississippi within a few years.

One of the members of that club, at the time an elderly gentleman, had seen Ivory-billed WP in the Singer Tract as a young man.

Gail Mackiernan
Silver Spring, MD

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Paul O'Brien <>
> Curiously, of the ten recognized subspecies of Bewick's Wren, only the 
> nominate bewickii of the east has declined.   The other subspecies are stable or 
> increasing.   Could there be a genetic susceptibility factor?   Just curious.
> 
> Paul O'Brien
> Rockville, Mont. Co., MD
>