Winter Wren

Winter Wren - Small Bird with a Mighty Song

Winter Wren [R d'Entremont Photo]

 The Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) is a small reclusive bird which is seldom seen but often heard.  Its song is long and melodious. Up to 8 seconds long, it is a mixture of high-pitched trills and warbles with many changes in tempo and pitch.  It is for this song that people often ask, 'What bird is that?'  The bird, however, is seldom seen.

The Winter Wren is our tiniest wren.  We don't have many wren species but occasionally have the House Wren, which is larger.  The Carolina Wren and the Marsh Wren are rarer.  The Winter Wren is just 10 cm (4") long.  It is a dark brownish-gray colour with a short, pale eyebrow, a dark brownish belly and with dark barring on its belly, flanks, wings and tail.  It holds its short tail straight up like most wrens.

The Winter Wren spends most of its time in dense shrubbery and tangled roots and prefers boreal or mixed forest.  In our forest it frequents the roots of upturned trees, fallen logs and thick vegetation.  It often goes into holes and cavities looking for food.  No wonder it is hard to see.  When you hear one singing near you, it is often difficult to actually locate the bird.  This species breeds throughout most of the Canadian provinces and is a permanent resident in British Columbia.  It winters in the eastern US mostly from New York State southward.

Winter Wren [Holland Photo]

The Winter Wren conceals its nest among the upturned roots of a fallen tree.  It builds it from twigs and moss and constructs a side entrance.  Four to 7 white eggs with brown flecks are laid and incubated 12 to 16 days by the female.  The normal diet of this species consists of insects and small invertebrates.

The song of this species has been studied and its nuances are used to differentiate it from the Pacific Wren which looks very similar.  Per unit weight, the Winter Wren sings its song with 10 times the power of a crowing rooster! (iBirdPro)  This species was first described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus.  Its Latin name, 'troglodytes' is from the Greek words, 'trogle' meaning 'a hole' and 'dyein' meaning cave-dweller.  These words appropriately describe this species.