House Wren, Troglodytes aedon

The House Wren has a remarkably energetic and robust song for such a small little bird! It readily nests near people's houses and in birdhouses, likely explaining the origins of its name.

While the House Wren has the broadest latitudinal range of any songbird in the Americas, it has only started nesting in Tennessee relatively recently.

The first recorded nest in the state was in 1913 in Johnson City, but this species didn't start regularly nesting in northeastern Tennessee until the 1940s.

It slowly expanded across the state nesting in Nashville in 1957, in Dyer County north of Memphis in 1976, and in Chattanooga in 1978. Currently, it is a common nester only in northeastern Tennessee around Knoxville and is uncommon elsewhere.

The House Wren's breeding range extends from Canada to southernmost South America and the West Indies. Northern breeding populations migrate to the southern United States and Mexico during the winter.

Description: The subspecies of House Wren found in our region are overall dull grayish-brown with darker barring on the wings and tail. The eyebrow line is faint, the bill is thin and slightly de-curved, and the tail is longish and often kept cocked.

Length: 4.75"
Wingspan: 6" 
Weight: 0.39 oz

Voice: The song is an exuberant jumble of bubbling trills and rattles. They sing from early spring into mid-summer.

Similar Species:

• Winter Wrens have a very short tail and are smaller, and darker colored.
• Carolina Wrens are reddish-brown, with a bold white eyebrow line.

Habitat: Nesting birds are most frequently found near homes in urban, suburban, and rural settings where there are shrubs interspersed with clearings. During the non-breeding season, they are more secretive and prefer dense shrubs, tangles, and thickets.

Diet: Small, terrestrial insects.

Nesting and reproduction: Males often return to the territory they occupied the previous year, and start building several nests in natural or human-made cavities. When the female arrives, she selects one of the sites and the two birds finish building the nest together. In Tennessee, egg-laying extends from early May into July, and 2 broods may be raised in a season.

Clutch Size: Usually 6 to 8 eggs, with a range of 4 to 10.

Incubation: The female alone incubates the eggs for 13 days.

Fledging: The male and female feed the young, which fledge in 15 to 16 days. They will remain with the adults for another 2 weeks.

Nest: Both adults construct the nest inside a cavity using twigs, and line the cup with feathers, grasses, and other fine material. Nest Box Instructions here.

Status in Tennessee: The House Wren is a common breeder in northeastern Tennessee, an uncommon but regular breeder elsewhere in East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee, and a rare breeder in West Tennessee. It is fairly common during migration statewide. The House Wren is generally present in the state from mid-April to mid-October.

Fun Facts:

• Parasites can infest a nest and be a problem for babies. Some House Wrens put spider eggs into the nest. Lab test showed the spiders hatched and ate the parasites helping the babies.
• The oldest House Wren known in the wild was 9 years old.

Obsolete English Names: Jenny Wren, brown-throated wren

Best places to see in Tennessee: House Wrens are everywhere and easiest to locate when they are singing from mid-April into mid-summer.