House Wren

Troglodytes aedonOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wrens (Troglodytidae)

Overview

House Wren: Small wren (western parkmanii), with brown head, nape, and back showing very fine dark brown bars, faint white eyebrows, and gray-brown underparts with fine brown bars on flanks and below tail. Wings and tail are brown with darker bars. Bill is thin and slightly decurved.

Range and Habitat

House Wren: Breeds from southern Canada southward to central California, central New Mexico, northern Arkansas, and northern Georgia. Other forms are found from Mexico southward throughout South America and the West Indies. Spends winters in the southern U.S. and Mexico, from California, Texas, and central Arkansas, to southern Maryland and southward to the Gulf coast and throughout Florida. Preferred habitats include open woodlands, forest edges, forest openings, shrubby areas, farmlands, orchards, residential areas, and suburban parks.

Listen:

Voice Text

"cheh-cheh"

House Wren

● Song: "cheh-cheh"

● Foraging & Feeding: House Wren: Eats insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, true bugs, and caterpillars; also feeds on spiders, millipedes, and snails; forages by gleaning insects from leaves and shrubs.

● Breeding & nesting: House Wren: Five to nine white eggs with brown flecks are laid in a nest made of sticks and grass, lined with feathers and soft materials, and built in a tree cavity, crevice, or nest box. Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: House Wren: Winter Wren is smaller and darker, with shorter tail, stronger bars on belly and flanks, and a more distinct eyestripe. Carolina and Bewick's wrens have paler bellies and distinct white eyestripes.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering direct flight with rapid shallow wing beats.

House Wren Breeding Male (western parkmanii) Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: House Wren: Breeds from southern Canada southward to central California, central New Mexico, northern Arkansas, and northern Georgia. Other forms are found from Mexico southward throughout South America and the West Indies. Spends winters in the southern U.S. and Mexico, from California, Texas, and central Arkansas, to southern Maryland and southward to the Gulf coast and throughout Florida. Preferred habitats include open woodlands, forest edges, forest openings, shrubby areas, farmlands, orchards, residential areas, and suburban parks.

^BreedingMonogamous, Polygamous

^Population

^MigrationMost migrate

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America

House Wren

Overview

Range and Habitat

Listen:

Voice Text

Related Birds:

House Wren

Flight Pattern


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