It's Live Again! Robin Cam #2 Watch It Here!

House Wren Habits

Attracting the House Wren can be as easy as adding a wren house specifically built for them.

Their nesting and feeding habits are easily observed, as these birds tend to be somewhat tolerant of humans.

Relentlessly searching for insects during the nesting phase, House Wrens can be an asset to the backyard gardener.

House Wren Description

Unlike many others, these birds do not have brightly colored

feathers.

Measuring 5 inches long with a plump body and a short tail.

The upperparts are unstreaked and grayish brown while the underparts are grayish white.

This bird has no prominent field marks.

If you spend any time at all watching these birds, you'll easily know the extent of its territory.

The male usually has three prominent perches from which he defends his territory of 1/2 - 3/4 acres.

Mating Habits

In spring, the male wren arrives and begins to establish his territory. You'll know he has arrived when you begin hearing him sing from his perches.

As you watch, you'll notice he begins placing sticks into prospective nest holes. He may build as many as twelve different nesting sites.

After pairing with a mate, the male takes the female to each of the nesting sites he has begun building.

The female selects the one she likes and begins to rebuild by adding soft materials to the nest before laying eggs.

House wrens are cavity nesters and as such, are an ideal candidate for attracting to birdhouses. In fact, these birds seem to prefer man-made nest boxes to natural cavities.

Nesting Habits

The nesting site can be located anywhere from 4-30 ft. above

NEW! Wrens nest in some funny and strange places. Do you have a story and picture about Wrens nesting around your home? Why not Share it With Our Visitors. Got pictures? We Love Pics - To share your story or read what others have said Click Here

ground. After choosing and rebuilding the nest, the female will lay 5-6 eggs that are white with brown marks.

Incubation time last 12-15 days and the young will leave the nest in 16-17 days.

For their size, these birds can be very aggressive, often piercing other cavity nesting birds eggs. The male will bring food to the female while she incubates the eggs. The House Wrens diet consist almost entirely of insects.

Rarely bothered by general human presence, if the bird watcher gets to close to the nest, she stands a good chance at being scolded.

Welcome this little bird to your yard and garden by placing several houses around your property.

Even if you have a small yard you can place more than one house, consider one in the front yard and one in the back yard

Wrens will generally attempt to raise two broods a season.

Learn About

Wren Houses For Backyard Nesting

Learn the habits of the Carolina Wren

Back to List of Birds

Find Products To Attract More Birds

Custom Search

Have A Great Story About Wrens Around Your Home?

Use The Contact Us Page For Questions - This Form Is For Stories Only

See What Other Visitors Have Said

We would love to read your story about House Wrens in your yard. Don't forget to add a picture, Our visitors love the pictures!

To begin just enter the information asked for and your story will soon appear on this website.

Title - Try to Keep It 4 Words or Less As This Will Be The Page Name. Something like - Wren Nesting In Boot

Tell Us Your Story! MUST Be 4 Or More Full Paragraphs To Be Published [ ? ]

Upload A Picture (optional) [ ? ]

Add Picture Caption (optional)

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Wrens Nesting in Asparagus Fern!

This is such a miracle! We saw the couple building their nest in my Asparagus Fern on our deck from start to finish, it was great fun to see them ...

Wrens In a Basket
I was working in the garage a couple weeks ago when I saw a bird fly in the back door. This is not so unusual, as we feed birds in the backyard and have ...

Possible abandoned house wren nest?
PLEASE HELP! I am not sure what to do, if anything. I have a small bird house in the lilac tree outside my bedroom window.

I have been enjoying watching ...

Room With A View
This little bird house has been up for a few years. This year we finally had "wren"ters. It's fun to watch them fly in one side and out the other!

Wren In Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter
One day my husband went to water his tomato plant that was hanging off our front porch. He was greatly surprised when a very angry wren flew out at him....

Wren Babies In Vase....

Inside Vase

On my deck there is a huge tubular Vase, on top is a planter with dried flowers..my pup went bonkers yesterday, sniffing and ...

Babies without a Mom
Every year a Carolina Wren makes its nest in our birdhouse under our eave. Sometimes, she/he would flash by me as I walked by only to return shortly.

Recently,...

Wrens at Sporting Clays Club
I'm a bird lover who also happens to enjoy sporting clays shooting. You'd think the sound of shotguns going off would chase the birds from the grounds,...

Bird in Geranium Plant
I am very new to "birding." About the only birds I have in my back yard are sparrows, black birds and an occasional Cardinal, (my favorite) and a pair ...

Wren nesting in ivy---part two
Today is May 19th--nine days after I noticed my baby wrens had hatched.
After hearing chirping ...

Wren Nest in Bike Bag - ON BIKE
We had recently been hearing a lot of wrens this spring trilling about in the woods on the back side of our property and had noticed their volume and pitch ...

Wren nesting in camp chair
We have a few camp chairs on our back porch that are not in use. The wren decided to start her nest.

I noticed little by little that she brought pieces ...

INSIDE my SHED?
My husband is building a wonderful "Work Shed" that is 90% finished where I will have a studio work on whatever "Craft" I'm into at the time. The building ...

Wren nesting in nest brought home from Mauritisu
Whilst holidaying in Mauritius in Nov 08 we experienced hundreds of weaver bird nests hanging from trees, it was delightful to see the activity.

When ...

A cactus Wren's SNOW experience
I have Cactus Wrens all over the place here in the high desert Mtns. I used to get so frustrated with these little buggars, tearing up my patio furniture,...

Butt Bucket Mom
Did someone say wrens nest in strange places around the house?

Wren Rescue Story
This spring my wren built it's nest in a "cheapy" wooden bird house that I had placed above my light fixture on my back porch. I noticed the activity there ...

Nest in Motorcycle Helmet
We had a wren build a nest in my husband's motorcycle helmet that was on a shelf in our garage.

In the past we had been able to intervene before the ...

Condominiums
About 10 years ago I started learning woodworking. I found a pattern for bird house condominiums.

I built one that is 5 foot tall and has 10 apartments ...

Wren in Wreath
A few weeks ago I walked past the grape vine wreath covered with silk hydrangeas I hung next to our front door and noticed things weren't the same as usual....

Wrens On Myy Porch
I grew birdhouse gourds last summer an have been very lax about completing my projects. Some are already painted, some only cleaned out, some still hanging ...

The Entertaining House Wren
I'm calling my lil house wren, 'THE INNER CITY MEADOWLARK'. The voice is such a sweet melody, that stops you in your tracks.

As soon as the dawn breaks,...

Wren Interesting Nesting Choice
I first noticed this bird in May, by the short aggressive calls that were very loud from such a small bird.

I figured the bird was looking for a mate....

Is There Hope
This year, I was blessed with a mama wren and 4 babies in my pot of sweet potatoe vines and wavy petunias on the rail of my deck!

We have mini weenies ...

Wren Nest in Upright Bottle
I used a large plastic bottle to fill my birdfeeders this winter. I left it by the back door which is under a wide awning.

I noticed something in the ...

Wren Box On Deck
We live in eastern NC. in a rural area & watched as the adult wrens built nest in box, and then as food was brought to the babies.

My husband and I ...

Wren Eating Suet
This little Wren comes by my window daily to eat the suet I have hanging there.
It sings so pretty and pecks on my window thinking it see's another Wren ...

Carolina Wren On My Mind
Behind my house, within view of my bedroom window is a plastic trash bin where my children store wiffle ball bats & pool noodles, and other such items....

Wren Close To Home
Last spring we heard a new song in the backyard and eventually saw the tiny bird who was producing it, a male house wren who I mistook for a female since ...

More Babies Yippee
Two years ago a little married couple of wrens built a nest in my hanging planter among the impatiens.

Each day I would look into the nest and to my ...

Wrens Nest Damaged
We have a wren who has built onto a swallows nest from last year, either male or female has been sitting low inside the nest and peeping out.

Tonight ...

Nesting in the Chimenea
My Wife and I moved into an apartment while we are having a new home built, we have had bird feeders before, but are not avid birders.

We have a small ...

Nested in Milk Crate Not rated yet
Wrens started hanging out under our carport this spring (2009), much to our surprise and delight. We're in eastern Arkansas near Memphis and don't recall ...

Wren nesting in backdoor Not rated yet
I have a missing pane on my back door thanks to the neighbor kid breaking my storm window and I never got around to replacing it. Last year a bird built ...

Disappearing Eggs... Not rated yet
We have a wren who was sitting on 3 eggs as of last night. They have been in the nest for 10 days or there about.

Mommy has been diligent but this morning ...

Wren and Upside Down Tomato Not rated yet
Dear Sir

Mom got a tomato plant that is hanging upside down. Well I just noticed 2 little wrens are nesting and yes there are babies in that nest.

They ...

Wrens nesting in kids playhouse!! Not rated yet
A couple of days ago whilst watching our kids playing in the garden, we noticed a lot of activity in the playhouse at the top of the garden.

We watched ...

Wrens nesting in porch light Not rated yet
For several years in a row, we had house wrens nesting inside our porch light. It's a hanging light that has a metal "roof" over the glass enclosure, and ...

Yearly Wreath Visitors Not rated yet
For the last 5 years or so, we have had wrens building their nest in a wreath that we have hanging in the carport area. We have watched both "parents"...

Wren in Wreath Not rated yet
My husband and I noticed a couple of weeks ago a nest being built in a wreath on our front door. At first we thought it couldn't be. So, close to the ...

Wren Nesting In Ivy Not rated yet
In the past few years I have noticed wrens hanging around my central Alabama home and encouraged their presence by putting out crushed peanuts for them ...

Wrens on the Porch Not rated yet
Our family has frequently kept the door to the enclosed back porch propped open in good weather so dogs can come and go at will. Wrens have built many ...

"Little Mamma's" Nest Not rated yet
In the Spring of 2008, I saw some pine straw poking out of the garage door light fixture. I decided to clean it out, so I got the ladder and climbed ...

Wren nesting on Propane Tank Not rated yet
We found a wren nest on top of the propane tank in our yard. We have 5 eggs in the nest.

Wrens nesting in Xmas wreath Not rated yet
This year I forgot to take down my Xmas wreath on the front door. In the summer time we use the front porch a lot.

We have had a lot of cold weather ...

Nest Among The Clothspins Not rated yet
One morning I went out to hang my laundry on the line.

I put my hand into my clothespin bag only to find it stuffed full of twigs.

I emptied the ...

Carolina Wrens Part 2 Not rated yet
About 10 years ago I had a pair of wrens nest in an old tin can I had out by the BBQ grill.

Because there was a prowling neighborhood cat, I feared ...

Eating In The Bag Not rated yet
I live in Fort Worth, TX and have a bird feeder in the back yard usually covered in Dove and House Finches.

On occassion a Wren will just avoid the ...

Front Porch Nesters Not rated yet
For the last several years the house wrens have taken up residence on my front porch, building in a hanging basket or potted plant on a table.

They ...

Housecleaning Wren Not rated yet
A house wren is cleaning out debris from a used birdhouse.

Bit by bit the remains of an old nest and an old wasp nest is being removed from the little ...

Wren Nesting in Nostril Not rated yet
We have a bird house hanging from our back deck. It is the face of, I would say troll with large nostril openings.

It has been entertaining watching ...

Nesting Inside The Garage Not rated yet
Several days I watched a male & Female coming to the door of our garage with what I thought to be insects in their bills.

The birds sat on the fence ...

Wren in Decorative Birdhouse Not rated yet
Last year we had a pair of wrens for the first time, stealing green garden twine I had placed in a grapevine wreath. We had a horrific wind and the nest ...

Wren Nesting in Chair Not rated yet
We live in a house that sits high in the trees, so we get bird activity close to the house on a regular basis, but this is a bit too much! :)

Since ...

Wren In Bedroom Window Not rated yet
My friend and I found a wren nest in his bedroom window, in the corner of the ledge, between the glass and the screen.

It turned out that the bird could ...

Wrens Return 2nd Year Not rated yet
We have a covered patio that is inset into our house on the back side, which we have crammed full of patio furniture, refrigerator, and toys (3 young kids)...

Wren In Flower Pot Not rated yet
My granddaughter found 4 beautiful, tiny birds in a flower pot we had put in a wire basket about 5 feet high on our back porch wall.

They are just born ...

Wren Nesting In Chair Not rated yet
The wren family built a nest in a folding chair on my carport.

When the chair is in folded position it provides cone shaped fabric cups that are ideal ...

Strange Nesting Place Not rated yet
We've seen one or more Carolina Wrens around our yard for the past three years or so, even though we're pretty far North for them.

I think that they ...

Nest In Fan Exhaust Not rated yet
Every year we have wrens that nest in an old bathroom fan exhaust on the side of our house. It's in the perfect location for our two indoor cats to watch ...

Wren Nesting In Hanging Basket Not rated yet
We have a wren nesting in our large hanging basket. I have just seen the first baby emerge clinging to the wall as it made it's way up.

Mum/Dad sitting ...

Nesting In Tool Box Not rated yet
The wren family occupied a little rectangular tool box filled with garden tools on my second floor deck.

The activity was incredibly busy all day long,...

Carolina Wren Nesting In Chimenea Not rated yet
We have a cabin just south of Woodsfield, Ohio and were delightfully surprised when we went to do our first mowing for the season to find that we had a ...

Wrens In Bar-B-Que Not rated yet
From my kitchen window I can see my back deck and a few weeks ago I watched a bird bringing what I thought looked like pretty big sticks into a hole in ...

Wren Nesting In Wash Bucket Not rated yet
This spring I saw a pair of wrens bringing oak leaves and long grasses to my deck in rural East Tennessee.

I never saw where they were dropping off ...