Overview
Winter Wren: Tiny wren with barred, dark brown upperparts and pale eyebrows. Brown underparts heavily barred on flanks, belly, and undertail. Tail is short. Bill is dark brown. Legs and feet are brown. Only member of the wren family found outside the Americas, occuring in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Range and Habitat
Winter Wren: Breeds from Alaska and British Columbia east through southern Canada to Newfoundland, and south to California, northern Idaho, and the Great Lakes region. Spends winters across much of the southern U.S. south to southern California, the Gulf Coast, and Florida. Dense tangles and thickets in coniferous and mixed forests are preferred habitats.
Wrens (Troglodytidae)
ORDER
The wrens are just one of the one hundred eighteen families of birds in the order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez); a large taxonomic order that includes other bird families with pleasant songs such as the thrushes, the vireos, and the mockingbirds.
FAMILY TAXONOMY
There are seventy-nine species of wrens in sixteen genera in the Troglodytidae (pronounced trog-luh-DIE-tuh-dee), a family mostly restricted to the New World.
NORTH AMERICA
Forty-six species of wrens in fourteen genera are found in North America. These include the familiar House Wren, the desert dwelling Cactus Wren, and the aptly named Rock Wren.
KNOWN FOR
The House Wren is known for its confiding, friendly behavior. This familiar bird species is well-named as it often occurs around human habitations, often building its nest under the eaves of roofs or in backyard nest boxes.
PHYSICAL
The wrens are small birds for the most part although the Cactus Wren is a medium-sized bird. The members of this family are rather plump birds with short wings, longish, strong legs and feet, and rather large heads with long, thin, slightly downcurved bills. Tail size varies from the very short as is the case in the wood-wrens, to longish as in the Cactus Wren.
COLORATION
Bright colors are not found in the plumages of wrens. Various shades of brown predominate, many species with black spots, barring or streaks. Some species also have white on the underparts, white eye-brows, or white spotting.
GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT
The Troglodytidae occur in most North American habitats except for the tundra. Most occur near the ground in the undergrowth of forests, scrub, desert vegetation, and second growth, while a few species are entirely terrestrial and frequent rocky areas.
MIGRATION
Wrens are non-migratory except for the Winter Wren, a short distance migrant from boreal forests to the southern United States.
HABITS
Most wren species are solitary birds that typically forage in pairs and do not join mixed flocks. They forage by using their bills to investigate dead leaf clusters, crevices, and various other hiding places used by the small creatures they prey upon.
CONSERVATION
No wren species are threatened in North America.
INTERESTING FACTS
The Winter Wren is the only wren species found outside of North America. In its large Eurasian range, it occurs in a wide variety of habitats and is a common garden bird that somewhat fills the niche of the House Wren. It also has one of the loudest songs for a bird of its size.