House Wren

Troglodytes aedon

Summary 4

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.

Troglodytes aedon 5

A small (4 ½ -5 inches) wren, the House Wren is most easily identified by its plain tan-brown back, tan breast, short tail (often held up at an angle), curved bill, and faint white eye-stripes. This species may be distinguished from the similar Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) by that species’ larger size and redder plumage and from Bewick’s Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) by that species’ larger size and brighter eye-stripes. Male and female House Wrens are similar to one another in all seasons. The House Wren breeds in southern Canada and the northern half of the United States, with other breeding populations occurring from southern Mexico and the West Indies to southern South America. In winter, populations breeding in North America winter in the southern half of the United States and northern Mexico. By contrast, tropical and South American House Wren populations are non-migratory. House Wrens inhabit a variety of semi-open habitats, including bushy fields, woodland edges, and scrub. This species has also adapted to life in well-vegetated urban and suburban areas, and its habit of nesting in artificial nest-boxes, also known as “bird houses,” has become part of this species’ English-language common name. House Wrens exclusively eat small insects. In appropriate habitat, House Wrens may be seen foraging for food on the ground or in the branches of bushes and shrubs. Birdwatchers may also listen for this species’ song, a rapid series of warbled notes. House Wrens are most active during the day.

Conservation status 6

House wrens are a very successful species because they have benefited from forest fragmentation and other human-induced habitat changes. They are quite tolerant of pesticides, habitat alteration and nest disturbance, allowing them to live and reproduce successfully even in human populated areas. This species is protected under the U.S. Migratory Bird Act.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Habitat 7

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

Iucn red list assessment 8


Red List Category
LC
Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version
3.1

Year Assessed
2012

Assessor/s
BirdLife International

Reviewer/s
Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s

Justification
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History
  • Least Concern (LC)
  • Least Concern (LC)
  • Least Concern (LC)
  • Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
  • Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
  • Not Recognized (NR)

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7457894@N04/2859948801
  2. (c) Greg Lasley, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Greg Lasley
  3. (c) David Govoni, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://s.yimg.com/pw/images/en-us/photo_unavailable_l.png
  4. Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troglodytes_aedon
  5. (c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34818113
  6. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428244
  7. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31428234
  8. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34766258

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