Winter Wren

The Winter Wren is small in stature and incomparably energetic in voice and song. The secretive bird lives in moist dense forests in eastern North America. The best time to look for the bird in the Lehigh Valley is October through mid-March. It is not often seen here at warmer months of the year.

The Winter Wren is identifiable by its short tail, usually cocked upward. The plumage is dark brown overall and the bill is thin and pointed.

The bird often creeps among fallen logs and dense tangles, behaving like a mouse, as it searches for tiny prey. The Winter Wren stays out of sight, but gives an occasional kimp-kimp call note. Per unit weight, the Winter Wren delivers its song with 10 times more power than a crowing rooster!

In the summer the bird's habitat extends from Newfoundland to Manitoba. It also is found in the woodlands and underbrush of the upland Appalachians in the northern United States. During the winter, Winter Wrens are found in very dense woods, especially along stream beds and among fallen logs. Their winter range extends from the United States side of the Great Lakes deep into the southern states.

Winter Wrens feed mostly on insects including beetles, caterpillars, ants, small wasps, and some spiders, millipedes and snails. They usually search for prey among foliage, on twigs and tree trunks, and on the ground. When feeding low along stream banks, they may even pluck bugs from the water's surface.

An insectivore, the Winter Wren can remain in moderately cold—and even snowy—climates by foraging for insects on logs and in bark. Sometimes they will take large pupae or seeds.

In spring the male Winter Wren will ascend to high perches in conifers where they will sing a beautiful song of long-running musical trills. When courting, the male perches near the female with his wings half-opened and fluttering. His tail is spread and he moves it from side to side while he sings.

Nests are built in low cavities among upturned and downed trees, in rotten stumps or old woodpecker cavities, and in holes along stream banks. Both the male and female build a domed structure of grass, weeds, roots and moss, and they line it with animal hair and feathers. The female lays five or six eggs and incubates them for 14 to 16 days. Both parents feed the nestlings. After about 19 days, the chicks fledge.

A few years ago one April, we saw a Winter Wren along a creek in the Katellan State Gamelands near Wind Gap. It was a cute little bird!