Winter Wren

Overview

Winter Wren: Tiny wren with barred, dark brown upperparts and pale eyebrows. Brown underparts heavily barred on flanks, belly, and undertail. Tail is short. Bill is dark brown. Legs and feet are brown. Only member of the wren family found outside the Americas, occuring in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Range and Habitat

Winter Wren: Breeds from Alaska and British Columbia east through southern Canada to Newfoundland, and south to California, northern Idaho, and the Great Lakes region. Spends winters across much of the southern U.S. south to southern California, the Gulf Coast, and Florida. Dense tangles and thickets in coniferous and mixed forests are preferred habitats.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Winter Wren was first described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist.
Per unit weight, this bird delivers its song with 10 times more power than a crowing rooster.
The scientific name is taken from the Greek word "troglodytes" (from "trogle" a hole, and "dyein" to creep), meaning "cave-dweller", and refers to its habit of disappearing into cavities or crevices while hunting spiders or to roost.
A group of wrens has many collective nouns, including a "chime", "flight", "flock", and "herd" of wrens.

The Winter Wren has a very large range reaching up to roughly 5.43 million square kilometers. This bird has an enormous amount of coverage including all of North America, most of Europe and Northern Africa, parts of the Middle East and extensive portions of Asia. It also is known to have a vagrant population in Kuwait. This bird prefers temperate forests and shrublands and is also found in rural gardens and even in many urban areas. The global population of this bird is estimated to be around 36 million individual birds. The global population of this species has not been accurately quantified, but it is not believed to approach thresholds for population decline. Due to this, population trends for the Winter Wren have a present evaluation level of Least Concern.