WRENS

Winter Wren

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Troglodytes hiemalis

The Winter Wren is a plump round ball with a stubby tail that it usually holds straight up. It is a very small North American bird.

Adults measure about 3.1 - 4.7 inches, with a wingspan of 4.7 - 6.3 inches and weighs about 8 - 12 grams.

They are rufous brown above, grayer below, barred with darker brown and gray, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, the legs pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred.

Most are identifiable by the pale "eyebrows" over their eyes.

CALL: Similar to the barking call of a Song Sparrow, a rather squeaky “klip”. Male and female both call, sometimes repeating the notes depending on how agitated they are.

SONG: The male sing a cascading, bubbly song that lasts about 5–10 seconds. Each song is made up of dozens of bell-like notes that they combine and change up from time to time.

Males sing from elevated perches especially early in the season when they are establishing territories and while they are building the nest. Their songs are somewhat slower and their notes are slightly more distinct than their western counterpart, the Pacific Wren.

Eats beetles, ants, flies, mites, caterpillars, millipedes, and spiders among other things. In the fall, they also eat juniper or other berries when available.

Found in a variety of forested habitats, but always prefers wetter areas with thick tangles, often around treefalls and moss.

Breeds from British Columbia to the Atlantic Ocean.

Migrates through and winters across southeastern Canada, the eastern half the United States and (rarely) north-eastern Mexico. Small numbers may be casual in the western United States and Canada.

The male builds a small number of nests. These are called "cock nests" but are never lined until the female chooses one to use. It is a round nest of grass, moss, lichens or leaves tucked into a hole in a wall, tree trunk, crack in a rock or corner of a building, but it is often built in bushes, overhanging boughs or the litter which accumulates in branches washed by floods. 5 - 8 white or slightly speckled eggs are laid in April, and second broods are reared.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://ebird.org
https://www.allaboutbirds.org