House Wren

The House Wren is a common and ubiquitous songbird, relatively abundant across most of its range. It is tolerant of human activity and often conspicuous as a result of its bubbly, energetic and vocal nature. Their range extends through southern Canada from BC to the Atlantic coast and through most of the US. They winter from the southern US to southern Mexico.

Adult Male (spring/summer)

It is small, compact and relatively slender with a flat head. It is short-winged; often keeping its longish tail either cocked above the line of the body or slightly drooped. It is subdued brown overall with darker barring on the wings and tail and pale gray-brown on the breast and below. Undertail coverts barred. The pale eyebrow that is characteristic of so many wren species is much fainter in the House Wren. The bill is moderately long, thin and down curved. No distinguishing differences between male and female.

Adult Female (spring/summer)

No distinguishing differences between male and female.

Juvenile

Rufous-brown overall with barring on wings and tail. No undertail covert barring. There is often some yellow visible around gape.

General:

Small and relatively slender wren. Length: 12-13cm. Wing: 15-16cm. Weight: 11grams.

Behaviour:

Busy foragers in low tree branches and shrubs or investigating the ground with quick hops, House Wrens are aggressive. Single males sometimes compete for females even after a pair has begun nesting and if successful he usually discards any existing eggs or nestlings and begins a new family. Pairs typically break up by the end of each nesting season and choose new partners the next year. House Wrens eat a variety of insects and spiders, including beetles, caterpillars, earwigs, and daddy longlegs, as well as smaller numbers of more mobile insects such as flies, leafhoppers, and springtails. They also eat snail shells, probably for the calcium they contain and to provide grit for digestion.

Habitat:

Common in dense brushy patches, overgrown gardens, and hedgerows, House Wrens have a huge geographic range and live in many habitats, so long as they feature trees, shrubs, and tangles interspersed with clearings. Because they are cavity nesters, House Wrens thrive around buildings, yards, farms, and other human habitations with their many nooks and crannies.

Information:

Song is a rapid bubbling series of trills and rattles, rolling and descending. Calls vary from dry harsh scold notes to higher, more nasal whining notes and dry check notes.
House Wrens are opportunistic cavity nesters using old woodpecker holes, natural crevices, nest boxes and other cavities created or discarded by humans. Usually the male will begin the nest by piling twigs into the cavities they choose, sometimes mounded up into a barrier between nest and entrance, seemingly to protect the nest from cold weather, predators, or cowbirds. The cup itself is built into a depression in the twigs and lined with just a few grams (less than 0.25 oz) of feathers, grasses and other plant material, animal hair, spider egg sacs, string, snakeskin, and discarded plastic. House Wrens rarely use nest sites more than 100 feet from woody vegetation, but also avoid heavily wooded areas where it’s hard to see predators coming.

Similar species: Pacific Wren, Marsh Wren, Winter Wren

Conservation Status:

Populations have been increasing over long and short–term. Listed as Least Concern.

Capture Rates

The House Wren is a rare visitor to Colony Farm. It is more commonly found on southeast Vancouver Island, and primarily in the Okanagan and Thompson Valleys of the BC interior. Subsequently, capture rates reflect a few individuals in late August as hatch year birds disperse and begin southward migration.

Molt Summary:

PF: HY partial – incomplete; PB: AHY complete; PA absent
Preformative molt includes 3 – 10 inner gr covs, usually 1 – 3 terts (occasionally s6 as well), and occasionally 1 – 2 central rects. It may also be eccentric, with some outer pp, inner ss, and most or all rects replaced.

Some or many birds may also show an eccentric molt. Ageing is difficult and many intermediates should not be reliably aged, especially in Mar-Jul.

Molt limits are difficult to detect.

Sex M=F by plumage.