Birds on the Beargrass - learn about the birds that live along KY's Beargrass Creek
House Wren
Today, we will be learning about the ‘House Wren’, one of the hundreds of species of birds that migrate along Beargrass Creek every year.
This is the House Wren, a popular sight in this area of Northern Kentucky. This bird is common over the entire Western Hemisphere.
The House Wren spends its time in low tree branches and shrubs in search of insects. Their small nests can be found in all kinds of nooks and crannies such as a loft or garage.
These birds are small and compact with short wings and a long tail. They’re plain-looking with brown feathers all over.
They are very energetic, often bouncing along the ground under bushes and shrubs. Their song is described as cheerful with a trilling sound.
House Wrens thrive in open forests, the forest edge, and areas with scattered grass and trees such as farmyards, suburban yards, and city parks. When it’s cold they hide in thick and brushy thickets and hedges.
Six or seven eggs are laid about twice a year. The eggs are white with reddish-brown dots and take twelve to fifteen days to hatch. In just another twelve to eighteen days the younglings are ready to leave the nest.
House Wrens have one of the largest ranges of songbirds, from Canada throughout the West Indies, Central America, and all the way south throughout South America.
Wrens can add spider egg sacs into their nesting materials to combat mites and other parasites that feed on House Wren nestlings.
Despite their small size, they can behave very aggressively, even to the point of dragging eggs and young out of desirable nest sites, occasionally killing even full-grown adult birds.
The oldest wild House Wren was recorded at least 9 years old when it was recaptured and re-released in 1993 during New York banding operations.
To attract House Wrens to your own yard, offer a diverse range of food like flower buds, fruit, seeds, nectar, sap, and insects. These birds love a large variety of native plants and shrubs such as Spicebush! (Check out our videos and articles on Spicebush here at www.beargrassthunder.com)
These birds prefer a variation of low-growing vegetation near thickets of shrubs and taller trees. To attract House Wrens year-round, select a variety of plants that produce foods throughout all the different seasons. Winter-bearing plants are a vital food source for these species.
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