House Wren

OTHER NAMES- Brown Wren, Common Wren, Wood Wren, Stump Wren, Short Tailed House Wren and Jenny Wren

House Wrens are plump little birds approximately 5 inches in length with a bill that turns downward slightly and small, blunt wings. They hold their tails upward on an angle. The color of their back is brown, and they have a small white stripe over the eye. The wings, tail, and flanks have stripes with black barring. The throat, chest and stomach are ivory white in color. Their legs are washed out red or pinkish. Both the male and female House Wren are similar in their coloring and markings.

The House Wren inhabits the Eastern States of the United States and Eastern provinces in Canada. Their habitat in the United States is from Maine to Wisconsin and south to Virginia. In Canada birders observe the House Wren from New Brunswick to Ontario provinces.

In Nebraska the Hose Wren is a common bird throughout the state and has a healthy population along the Missouri River Valley. Some time between the middle of April the wren migrates north and from the first part of September to the beginning of October it begins its flight to the southern habitat. The house wren breeding population has increased in Kansas too.

In Nebraska in the Platte River area the House Wren has a good population and is common in the warm months. One bird watcher stated that the House Wren was more common in North Platte and in the timbered regions along the river and in areas outside the river valley from the middle of April through the first part of October. It is a common resident on the Western Plain but seldom seen in the Sandhills. There isn't a large population in the Sandhills because of limited nesting sites.

In one study of the past, scientists suggested the population of the House Wren was about 45,000 nesting pairs. Also the study suggested that the House Wren made up 1.5% of the total breeding bird.

Habitat: Bird watchers discovered House Wren nests among low land timberland, where people had many trees on their property, on river islands with trees, and in upland prairie. Many wrens nested in Western Kansas in the woods and brush along a stream, river or a creek. Where the borders of a woods met brushy undergrowth, birders found numerous House Wren nests in western North Dakota. Birders found the largest number of nests of House Wrens in Northeastern North Dakota in full-grown low land woods. The House Wren preferred upland and flood plain forest lands, woods on a sea shore, and bluffs along a creek or river that faced east or north.

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