House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested or Nonforested Landscapes

      Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Lowland Brush
      or Residential
   containing:
      (Man-made Structures or Snags or Living Cavity Trees)
   adjacent to:
      Edge

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Habitat: House Wrens nest in open woodlots and thickets associated with suburban yards, farmlands, orchards, and parks, where grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects are abundant. The bird also can be found in moist forests and along streams. In addition, it occurs in uninhabited stretches of the Upper Peninsula, where active nests have been found in dead trees far from human activities. House Wrens prefer to nest in open habitats, where defense of the nest and young may be more easily accomplished. About half of the Atlas Habitat Survey records for this species were in residential spots and other areas disturbed by humans with most of the rest in deciduous forests and shrubby wetlands.

House wrens are remarkably flexible in cavity or nest box choice, but seem to prefer smaller boxes, especially when the opening faces south or southeast.

Overall, the species appears to be less abundant in the most heavily urban, heavily farmed, and densely wooded areas.

Habitat: Breeding: Near human dwellings with sufficient woody vegetation and cavities for nesting, edges of woodlands, farmland, open forests and clearings, suburban gardens, orchards, swampy woodlands. Very adaptable in nesting habits. Avoids deep forest interiors and high elevations. Wintering: Thickets and brushpiles.

Special Habitat Requirements: Cavity for nesting in tree with minimum dbh of 10 inches.

Habitat: Open woods, thickets, towns, gardens. Breeds in a wide variety of semi-open habitats, including suburbs, orchards, woodlots, open forest, streamside groves, mountain pine-oak woods, and many others. Winters mostly in areas of dense low growth, including thickets and streamside brush.

Diet: Mostly insects. Feeds on a wide variety of insects, including beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, moths, flies. Also eats many spiders, plus some millipedes and snails. Forages very actively in dense vegetation. Forages at various levels, sometimes high in trees but usually low, searching for insects among foliage, on twigs and branches, in the bark of tree trunks, and on the ground.

Nest: Site is any kind of cavity, including natural hollows in trees and stumps, old woodpecker holes, crevices in buildings, often in nest boxes. May nest in almost any kind of enclosed space (flowerpots, parked cars, shoes, drainpipes, etc.). Site is usually low, may be high in trees, especially in western mountains. Male builds incomplete "dummy" nests in several cavities; female chooses one and finishes nest by adding lining. Nest has a foundation of twigs topped with softer cup of plant fibers, grass, weeds, animal hair, feathers.

Conservation Status: Declined in some areas in 19th century after introduction of House Sparrow, which competed for nest sites. Currently widespread and common, numbers probably stable.