What is Wren?
Wren flying birds belong to the family Troglodytidae. Family Troglodytidae contains about 85 species of small, chunky, brownish birds and all of them are belongs to the order Passeriformes. The wren birds are the native species of the Western Hemisphere. Further, only one species Troglodytes, which breeds circumpolar in temperate regions, has spread to the Old World. Usually, the Troglodytes are termed winter wren in North America. In Eurasia, they are simply known as wren. Common wren from these families can reach the maximum length of about 10cm and dark barred brown colour. Both male and female birds look alike, with a short bill slightly downcurved, short rounded wings, and a short cocked tail.
Usually, even small wren birds wrens hunt insects in marshes, rocky wastes, or shrubbery. They ensure their presence by chatter and loud songs. Many young wren houses are holes and some species build domed structures in thickets or on ledges. The female wren birds line the nest with soft materials and will lay about 2 to 10 eggs per breeding period. Usually, they may have about three or four broods periods per year.
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The above image shows the wren bird standing on the wood.
Types of Wren Birds
T. aedon is an scientific name of house wren, that are commonly found from Canada to Tierra del FuegoCanada to Tierra del Fuego. The house werns are barred grey-brown species and length of about 12cm. Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus is the scientific name of a cactus wren, which is the largest US species and can grow up to the length of about 20 cm. The cactus wrens are commonly found in southwestern deserts and also in Mexico. Henicorhina is known as Tiny wood wrens that are widely found in tropical forests. The Cistothorus, Telmatodytes are the little marsh wrens, that are commonly found in tropical and temperate wetlands. Thryothorus ludovicianus is the scientific name of Carolina wren are termed as exceptional singers and are widely found in the eastern U.S. Catherpes mexicanus is the canyon wren and are widely found in arid western North America. Cyphorhinus arada is the scientific name of musician wren and is often called organbird, of South America. Salpinctes obsoletus is the rock wren that is only found in the US with a streaked breast, wren house among rocks from the Great Plains westward. Many other unrelated small size birds or birds with wren like appearance are also called wrens.
Habitat of Wren
Wren birds principally belong to the New World family, which are distributed from Alaska and Canada to southern Argentina, with the greatest species richness in the Neotropics. As per their name, the Eurasia wrens are the only species of wren found outside America and are restricted within Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. They are formerly considered as the conspecific species with the winter wren and Pacific wren of North America. Clarion wren and Socorro wrens are the insular species that are available from the Revillagigedo Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Cobb's wrens are inhabited in the Falkland Islands, but few Caribbean islands have some special species of wren, with only the southern house wren in the Lesser Antilles, the Cozumel wrens are the native species of Cozumel Island and the highly restricted Zapata wren in a single swamp in Cuba.
Various species of wrens are spread over in a wide range of habitats, ranging from dry, sparsely wooded country to rainforests. Most of the species of wren prefer to live in the low levels. But the genus belongs to Campylorhynchus are frequently found in higher levels. Two species belong to Odontorchilus are restricted within the forest canopy. Few species like Eurasian wrens and the house wrens are often mingling with human beings. Some species of wren birds are residing near Central and South America even for the whole year. But some species are found in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, which partially migrate to the south to spend their whole winter season.
Usually, wren houses are in many places. These include tree stumps, conifer branches, upturned roots, overhangs, abandoned woodpecker holes, tin cans, old articles of clothing and furniture, mailboxes, old shoes, upturned roots, window sills and coffee pots. They build their nests using twigs, grasses, weeds, leaves, pine needles, bits of bark, mosses and objects like hair, string, feathers, etc. The average length of the wren birds is about 8 to 23 cm and with a width of about 8 to 15 cm. Usually, they prefer to build a nest above 1.8m from the ground. Wren will use only one for a brood.
Diet of Wren
Most of the wren birds are omnivorous. Common wrens are insectivorous, they can eat insects, spiders and other small arthropods. Some species of water wrens prefer to take vegetable matters such as seeds and berries, and some large species take small frogs and lizards. Usually, the Eurasian wrens are wading into shallow water to catch small fish and tadpoles. Sumichrast's wren and the Zapata wrens prefer to intake snails. Some giant wren and marsh wrens will attack and eat the eggs of other birds, some birds also prefer to attack the eggs of specific species. The local Spanish name for the giant wrens and bicoloured wrens is chupahuevo, which means egg sucker. But many many researchers do not know why they are named so. Even plain wren and northern house wrens will destroy the eggs of birds. Also, the rufous and white wrens are recorded for killing nestlings, but they are spoiling the nest of competitors not for feeding the eggs in the nest or nestling.
Reproduction in Wren
Some wrens like Carolina wrens shows monogamous, which means they combine together and involve in breeding for many years. The male wrens will attempt to attract female wrens by performing courtship displays for them. Sometimes, the male wrens hop around the female birds in a circle by puffing out their feathers and fanning their tail. Even male wrens will bring food for female wrens to attract them. This is called courtship feeding. Usually, the breeding period of wrens falls between March and October. Both the male and female wrens work together to build their nest. Usually, the wren birds prefer the morning to build their nest and take about a week to complete an entire nest.
Generally, female wrens will lay about 3 to 7 eggs in a nest. They will lay one egg on each morning during the breeding season. The eggs look light cream to pinkish-white colour with some dark spots near their ends. The eggs of wrens are in oval shape and about 18mm long. The female birds in the southern region lay eggs as early as March and the birds in the northern population will lay eggs as early as April. Many broods will have two to three broods per year. These may vary depends on their environment.
Usually, the female wrens will incubate eggs for about 12 to 16 days. During this period male wrens spend their time in separate nests and gather foods and deliver them to the female wrens. The hatched young wrens will remain helpless with closed eyes and they will open their eyes only after three days from a hatchling. The young wren looks pale grey down, translucent pink skin with a yellow bill. Usually, the female wren birds will brood their chicks for the first four days after hatching. This period will provide all care required for kids to grow and keep them warm. After four days, the female wren leave chicks in a day and be with chicks at night. Both male and female wren feeds the chicks with butterfly and moth larvae, crickets, grasshoppers and beetles.
The chicks of the wren will leave the nest after 12 to 14 days of hatching. Even after they leave the nest, they prefer to stay with their parents and continue to get their feed for about 4 weeks. The young wrens will start breeding from next spring, which is about reaching when they are attaining one year.
Physical Appearance of Wrens
Usually, the wren birds are small, round, plump shapes and they have distinctive small tails. The tails of wrens are almost continuously cocked up. Most of the wrens have scattered brown colour on the underparts. They have denser bars on their wings, flanks and tails. Even the young wrens look like adults with few bars on their bodies. Even small wrens will live and prefer to move constantly. The blue wren hunts for insects among leaves on the ground, in cracks in the bark of trees. Sometimes wren flying for a short distance in pursuit of their prey, which was helped by their powerful wing beats. Generally, all the wrens live along with their pairs during the breeding season and alone other times. The average life span of wrens are about two years and some species have a significantly longer life span. As per record the longest recorded life span of the white wren is about seven years.
Interesting Facts About Wren Birds
Most of the wren birds are insectivorous, they prefer to eat spiders, insects in the ground, caves and probe in crevices with their long thin bill. According to the latest research, scientists named Troglodytes as cave dwellers. They named the birds based on their behaviours or their dedication to constructing nests, which will have small openings.
According to the study, the fossils of wren specimens are first recorded in Anglo-Saxon times from the last ice age, which is 10 to 120000 years ago.
The weight of adult wrens is the same as the 1 euro coin. The lightest wren birds are found in Britain the exception of the firecrest and goldcrest.
Small wren birds will usually create an astonishingly loud song. They sing ten times powerful crowing cockerel per unit weight.
The wren populations in Britain are devastated by a severe winter, but the species have high egg productivity. So, that the count of eggs may get recovered in few years.
Most of the European wrens remains sedentary and migratory as well. They will migrate to various parts of Europe. They will fly up to 2500 km per migratory period and sometimes, Wren birds way from Scandinavia down to Spain.
Usually, the wren birds will use open-fronted and tit nest boxes for nesting and winter roosting, about 60 birds are recorded in one box.
Some wrens are even polygamous, which means the male birds will mate with several female wrens. Most of the species are strongly territorial at least during their breeding season.
Generally, polygamous male birds will construct nests for 6 to 12 female wrens and the female birds will choose their nest’s line with moss, leaves or feathers.
Female wrens can lay one to nine eggs but only female birds will involve in incubating eggs and both parents will feed their young one.
Around 35 to 44 subspecies of wren birds are widely spread over in various parts of the world. But they are different in size, colour and the extent of barring on the plumage.
FAQs on Wren
1. Do Wrens sleep with their babies?
Ans: Usually, wren birds undergo occasional feedings. After hatching the eggs both the adult birds will feed the young one in the nest. The female birds will prefer to sleep with their chicks during hatching and the male birds will sleep in another cavity.
2. Are Wrens good birds?
Ans: Many people love wren birds because they are almost always welcome, thanks to their hearty insectivorous appetites, bold songs, and inquisitive natures. Some wren birds even visit the places regularly and they will take food from patient hands, a feat that keeps them a perennial favourite among.
3. Are house wrens bad?
Ans: The common wren birds are famous for ruining the nests of chickadees, bluebirds and tree swallows and even, at times, killing the adult birds. Wren birds will even tab and open eggs of birds and nest out in the open, like robins and cardinals, even though they have no use for the nest site.
4. Do wrens use old nests?
Ans: Most of the wren birds do not reuse their old nest, even it is clean. They will build a new nest in a new location for each hatching.
5. Do Wrens steal eggs?
Ans: After several studies of Sherman's observations from the last century, the wren birds will spoil the eggs of bluebirds, woodpeckers, nuthatches, sparrows, chickadees, swallows, Bobolinks, and warblers, and sometimes they will occupy other birds nests.
