A wren by any other name…

Melbourne, it’s time to get to know your fairy-wren neighbours. And what better way to do that, than to be able to put a face to the name – or, in this case, a name to a dainty, blue face?

Here at the Superb City Wrens project, we’ve put coloured leg bands on more than 50 fairy-wrens in Royal Park (you can read more about why here). And we’d like your help naming each and every one of them. 

Why? We’ll be tracking this population of wrens over the next few years to see if our habitat restoration works help them spread through the park. Sightings from citizen scientists are a *huge* part of that. But reporting that you saw ‘left leg blue, right leg silver over green’, is a bit of an impersonal way to refer to our feathered friends. Other citizen science projects have had huge success naming their animals from sulphur-crested cockatoos of Sydney, to the enormous fan-base following Migaloo the white whale. Why not fairy-wrens as well?

A few suggestions we love that have already come in:

• Wrennaissance Man (thanks to David Astle for this suggestion)
• Steve Irwren (local wildlife warrior)
• Kylo-Wren (for the Star Wars fans)
• Wren Affleck and Wrennifer Lopez (celebrity love stories)
• Ker-wren (after our BirdLife Australia, wren-wrangler extraordinaire, Kerryn)
• And of course, Dame Helen Mirwren – our marvellous mystery wren

So, put on your thinking caps! We’d love to hear your ideas, whether it’s a fairy-wren pun or a feathered ode to your favourite Melburnian. Add your suggestions to the comments below or get in touch through our Facebook Page (Superb City Wrens).

We’ll start sharing the names over the coming months. For inspiration, here are just a few of the superb fairy-wrens of Royal Park.

And, as always, don’t forget to report-a-wren next time you’re out and about. Every sighting (or non-sighting) helps us learn more about how to help our Superb City Wrens.