House wren - around, but never seen

A house wren with a moth - waiting for me to move along and return to the nest.

I have never seen a house wren before.  They are somewhat ubiquitous in North America from the mid latitudes of the western provinces and from southern Ontario through the Maritimes down to Central America.  People have wren houses.  You may hear them singing (click here).  Even great poets such as Wordsworth have attributed prose to them.  But have you actually ever seen one?

The house wrens has been broken into two separate species, the Northern and Southern House Wren.  There are also a few endemic variants found on some select Caribbean islands.  The one photographed above is the northern variety.  The southern species lives mostly in South America, many of them being year-long residents.  

There are some interesting facts about house wrens.  I quite like the one about small parasites such as mites that infect the nesting cavities that they raise their young in.  To combat this, wrens may collect spider eggs (probably egg cases) and bring them to the nest where the young will hatch and dispatch the problem ectoparasites.  I do not know if this is done intentionally or accidently, but it is nonetheless cool.

If you want to attract house wrens, build a nest box with a 1 inch hole and make it thick enough that other birds can't break through it to get to the eggs or young.  They bring sticks into the cavity to prepare to hold a small cup-like nest.   Having such a pile of twigs available would be helpful.  They also primarily eat insects and so a nearby source of invertebrates would be good.  You can buy frozen mealworms and other such fodder for birds, but the house wrens won't be the only ones eating them.

It was great seeing and photographing the house wren.  I think I will put up a few houses specially made for them next year.  Not only will I get some terrific music to listen to, I may have fewer pests in my garden.

Tanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com