A Pacific Wren spotted Friday, Nov. 29 in Water Canyon. Photo by Jonathan Dowell – Follow all his photography on Instagram @SnowyEgretPhotography.

A Winter Wren spotted Friday, Nov. 29 in Water Canyon. Photo by Jonathan Dowell – Follow all his photography on Instagram @SnowyEgretPhotography.

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Forsooth, the guidebooks say the Pacific Wren and these two Wren’s ranges seldom overlap. But one such rare location is in Water Canyon right here in Los Alamos. And if I left out this detail, both species were together in Water Canyon out by the Back Gate Friday, Nov. 29. They were along the stream within 300 yards of each other.

Nearly identical, the Pacific and Winter Wrens were long considered to be a single species. But because of differences in voice, behavior, and subtleties of appearance, the American Ornithologists’ Union separated the two in 2010.

With a tip of the hat to Shakespeare, local wildlife photographer Jonathan Dowell, Ph.D. prepared this short video highlighting the birds’ distinctions, featuring his photos of the birds only 300 yards apart at the end of November in Water Canyon:

VIDEO: