Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

Wrens of Eastern North America

Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 3.25 inches. The Winter Wren is the smallest North American wren species. The bill is thin and short. A light band (supercilium) is present over the eye, but is brown and indistinct. The crown of the head and the back are dull brown. The back, wings, and tail are barred with black. The tail is very short, about twice as long as wide, and typically held perpendicular to the body. The thorat, breast, and belly are dull gray-brown. The lower half of the belly and the rump are lighter in color and strongly banded with black.

Similar Species: The Winter Wren is most likely to be confused with the House Wren. The House Wren is a larger species (length 4.25 inches) and the tail is longer and narrower, about three times longer than wide. The Winter Wren might be confused with the Sedge Wren. The Sedge Wren is a species of marshes and wet meadows, not thickets in forests. The back and crown of the Sedge Wren are streaked with black and white, not uniform brown as in the Winter Wren.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Winter Wren has a complicated distribution. It breeds in northeastern North America in a band stretching from Nova Scotia in the east westward across Canada to northern British Columbia. The Winter Wren occurs in the northeastern United States from Maine to Minnesota and stretches southward to Pennsylvania and in the mountains to Georgia. The western range of the Winter Wren ranges from middle California in the south to Alaska in the north and as far east as western Montana. The Winter Wren is also found in Asia and Europe.

Overwintering Range: The Winter Wren overwinters in the southern and middle Atlantic states in the east and throughout most of its western distribution.

Habitat: The Winter Wren lives in low, tangled vegetation in coniferous or mixed coniferous-deciduous forest.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: The Winter Wren bears a striking superficial behavioral appearance to a mouse, moving through the tangled undergrowth of habitat near the forest floor. Cute is the only word that adequately describes this wren. The song is an extremely complicated, loud combination of trills and chatters.

Reproduction: The nest is a large mass of twigs and moss with a side entrance and lined with feathers and fur and often concealed among the roots of a tree or tree stump. The clutch consists of 4 to 8 white eggs with brown speckles. Incubation takes about 16 days and the young are fledged after about 20 days.