Educate Yourself About the Carolina Wren and Other Wrens
Carolina Wren
(Thryothorus ludovicianus)
The Carolina Wren has a large, slightly upturned bill, a black cap and eye contrast with white face, warm brown chubby body, chestnut undertail feathers, and a short broad tail.
Its length is 5in (13cm) Its wingspan is 7in (18cm) Its voice is a song usually a clear, three-syllable chant of “tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea, or a (“chirpity, chirpity, chirpity, chirp”). Their eggs are white or pale pink, with 2 or sometimes 3 clutches consisting of 5-8 or (4-8) eggs. The female incubated for 12-14 days, and fledging time is around 12-14 days. Both male and female feed their young. Male and female look alike.
The Carolina Wren is a fun little brown bird to observe, the classic “LBB” (little brown bird), with its enthusiastic singing, and with a temperament at times, so be careful not to walk to close to a nesting site, or you might get a scolding. Wrens are restless birds, always on the go, with their tails erect, except for a short stop to perform loud, clear whistles of “tea-kettle,tea-kettle” or to imitate other birds like bluebirds, Pine Warblers, and meadowlarks, all year long.
The Carolina Wren, the largest wren in the East used to be limited to the Southeast, but can now be found northward into New England and the upper Midwest. They are one of the few wrens that will visit your hanging bird feeders and bird tables in your lovely bird feeding garden. They especially like backyards with dense shrubs, vines, and forest places with fallen trees and wild brush, close to water.
They are mostly insect-eaters, and every enthusiastic gardener’s friend, as they readily feed on leafhoppers, snails, scale insects, millipedes, beetles, cotton-boll weevils and crickets, and an occasional lizard.Sometimes the wren’s population will decline during extreme winters, when temperatures drop below 19 degrees F (7 degrees C), and persistent snow covered grounds, in the Northern edges of its range.
The Carolina Wren nests in tree cavities, but they can also nest in more open spots like fallen trees, tree stumps, and upturned roots. Their nests consist of huge collections of sticks, inner bark, leaves, moss, feathers, and bits of snake skin witch they may add to for years. But they are also known to pick the most peculiar places to nest in, such as open pails, or in a mailbox left open for an afternoon, and even in pockets of trousers, left hanging on a clothes-line.
If you like to attract the Carolina Wren to your lovely bird feeding garden, plant pines, Sweetgum, and bayberries. Fill your hanging bird feeders and bird tables with chopped peanuts, and mixtures of suet, peanut-butter, cornmeal and hulled peanuts, for an extra delightful treat. You can also build a brush pile in the corner of your backyard or close to some woods near by, for shelter and roosting opportunities. Putting up nesting boxes and bird houses are welcomed, and will often be occupied by these appealing LBB’s.
There are other wrens that should be mentioned as well, like the House Wren witch is also called the Jenny Wren, has been one of the most familiar, and beloved backyard companions for generations in America. They can be found in brushy hedgerows, and wooded areas, every where across the U.S., except for a patch of Southwest desert. Like the Carolina Wren, they will nest in anything with a little opening to it, such as booths left on door steps, in pockets of a hanging coat, and so on.
Other Wrens are the Bewick’s Wren, the Winter Wren, and the Marsh Wren.
