House Wren (Trogiodytes aedon)
Less than 5 inches long, this tiny bird seems to live right at home with
a man-made house. It breeds throughout the United States, except
for the South Atlantic and Gulf areas, and also nests in southern
Canada. It winters in the southern United States and Mexico.
The rich, bubbling song of the familiar little house wren is one of the
sweetest associations connected with town or suburban life. Its tiny
body allows it to creep into all sorts of nooks and crannies for its
insect food. A cavity in a fence post or porch roof, a wren box, a hole
in a tree, will be welcomed as a nesting site.
Their food is grasshoppers, beetles, bugs, spiders, cutworms, ticks, and plant lice.
Recognized universally as Johnny and Jenny wren, welcome
neighbors, they still show peculiarities in their behavior. Jealous of
their home areas, wrens sometimes puncture the eggs of other small
species nesting nearby, and Johnny may have two, possibly three
mates at one time.