Legends reveal our ‘king of birds’ to be a hero and villain
WELCOME to 2024, a new year bringing new challenges for our wildlife.
This year the midwinter challenges are not as severe as they might be: at this time in
1963 we were in the first of eight weeks of snow and ice which had a devastating effect on wildlife, especially small birds.
Wrens for instance suffered an 80% drop in their numbers, although a few years later their numbers were back up to normal. They are now one of our most numerous birds.
Anywhere with a few sheltering shrubs, such as gardens and parks, may be home to a wren, whose presence is usually revealed by its powerful song, a short burst of cascading notes and trills.
They are one of our smallest birds and their short upright tail makes them unmistakable.
Wrens have a rich folklore associated with them, not all good, although to the druids they were a symbol of wisdom and divinity. In other traditions that wisdom could better be described as craftiness. For example their epithet ‘the king of birds’ comes from a story that a wren won a contest to see which bird could fly highest by hitching a lift on an eagle, then when it was high enough flying above it. Legend also has it that a wren made Christ’s whereabouts known to the
Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that one betrayed
St Stephen by revealing his hiding place to his killers with its rattling song.
The last tale explains why wrens
were traditionally hunted on Boxing Day (St Stephen’s Day).
In Ireland, where it is harshly regarded for supposedly alerting
Cromwell’s forces to an imminent attack from Irish soldiers, the hunt is a custom similar to Halloween’s trick or treat.
Groups of ‘wrenboys’ catch wrens and parade them attached to evergreens, demanding money or food.
Refusal results in burying the wren in the person’s garden, thus bringing bad luck upon them.
Wrens suffer in harsh winters because their main food is insects and spiders.
When these are in short supply they will turn to seeds and kitchen scraps and any sources of fat they can find.
They lose body fat overnight and will gather in communal roosts to conserve body heat.
Although we tend to see single birds foraging in the daytime, according to the British Trust for Ornithology the record for a communal roost is 61.
Bird boxes are a favourite roosting site.
Wrens have a rich folklore associated with them, not all good, although to the druids they were a symbol of wisdom and divinity.