House Wren
Troglodytes aedon
Summary 7
The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a very small songbird of the wren family, Troglodytidae. It occurs from Canada to southernmost South America, and is thus the most widely distributed bird in the Americas. It occurs in most suburban areas in its range and it is the single most common wren. Its taxonomy is highly complex and some subspecies groups are often considered separate species.
Distribution 8
House wrens are native to the Nearctic region. During the breeding season they live from southern Canada to southern Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands. They spend the winter in a narrower range; the southern limits of the United States, southwestern California east to Florida and south throughout the Gulf Coast and Mexico.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Morphology 9
House wrens are small, squat birds without bold or characteristic markings. They have long, curved bills and, like other wrens, perch in a characteristic posture with their tail held erect. Their heads, napes, and backs are almost uniformly brown with very fine darker brown stripes. Their throats and chests are light grey, and they may have some black, dark brown, or pinkish spots on their flanks, tails, and wings. There is a faint, white eyebrow-like stripe above their eyes.
House wrens are usually 11 to 13 cm long and weigh 10 to 12 g. Males and females are identical in coloration, but males are slightly larger in some traits.
There are about 30 recognized subspecies of Troglodytes aedon. These subspecies are differentiated by plumage shading, amount of barring on flanks, variation in wing-to-tail proportions, and vocalizations.
Range mass: 10 to 12 g.
Range length: 11 to 13 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry ; polymorphic
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; male larger
Habitat 10
In the wild, house wrens live in open, shrubby woodlands. However, they were named for their preference for small town and suburban backyards and human-made bird houses. Small wood-lots and forest edges are also common habitats for these birds. Human farming and towns have created more good breeding habitat for the wren by breaking forests up into small chunks. This explains why house wrens have expanded their range and their population in North America has grown. During the winter, wrens live in thickets, shrubby and brushy areas, riparian forests, and savannas in the southern United States. In Mexico, they prefer tropical evergreen and semideciduous forests.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural
Sources and Credits
- (c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7457894@N04/2859948801
- (c) Greg Lasley, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Greg Lasley
- (c) crgillette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by crgillette
- (c) Eric Jacob, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Eric Jacob
- (c) Mark Rosenstein, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Mark Rosenstein
- (c) John Beatty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by John Beatty
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglodytes_aedon
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428233
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428235
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428234
