

Scott Johnson, a biologist at Maryland’s Towson University who has studied the species for almost 25 years, says he has seen the wrens nest in an old boot stuck upside down on a fence and in the brain cavity of a cow skull hanging on a wall. Old woodpecker holes are fine, as are nest boxes put out by backyard birders, including those designed for bluebirds. He picks cavities for potential nest sites. They are not particular, as is to be expected from so widespread a species.Įach successful male lays claim to a nesting territory, chasing off competitors. The males wing in first, looking for nesting sites in woody areas-swamps, city parks, farmyards, shrublands and forests of pine or broadleaf trees. They generally return north from late March to early May, with the latest dates characteristic of the northernmost parts of their range. and Canadian house wrens migrate to the southern United States or Mexico in winter. Its main distinction is how very plain it is.

Some dark and buff bars appear on tail, wings and sides, but generally you can tell it from any of the eight other North American wren species by what it lacks: any bold or distinguishing marks. It is slightly smaller than a sparrow, with a plain brown back and a gray throat and chest, sometimes with brownish highlights. resident with backyard trees and shrubs should know this bird. The house wren is the most widespread native songbird in the Western Hemisphere, nesting throughout much of Canada and down to the southernmost reaches of South America as well as on the Caribbean islands. No casual observer of backyard life would suspect that these puritanically brown birds flutter at the center of a maelstrom of unfaithfulness, abandoned families and-murder. THEY LOOK SO CUTE, those little house wrens-each one less than a handful, with rounded little heads and rotund little bodies, singing melodiously from bush and shrub. This provides sufficient space for the birds' safety and comfort while brooding, but without being so large that more aggressive birds or other predators can invade the house.Do you like your backyard wildlife to offer a titillating mix of romance, broken homes and violence? Then take a look at these widespread little brown birds.

These birds can have substantial broods, often from 3-8 or more eggs at once.

Because wrens use a wide range of nesting material that can include larger twigs, however, a slightly larger entrance hole can be useful for the birds to actively build their nests.
