BirdNote; House Wren - Little Brown Dynamo

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House Wren - Little Brown Dynamo

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

A House Wren darts from shrub to thicket to shrub.

[House Wren call notes, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/164953881, 0.01-0.04]

An intensely busy bird, this little brown dynamo with a stiffly cocked tail sings almost nonstop.

[House Wren song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/56889, 0.03-0.06]

It’s a familiar songbird and one of the most thoroughly studied by biologists.

[House Wren call notes, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/164953881, 0.01-0.04]

In North America, House Wrens breed in open woodlands, fragmented forest and along wooded edges. And most migrate south in late summer.

[House Wren calls, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/56882, 0.03-0.09]

The chatty wrens nest in cavities, including nest boxes.

[House Wren song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/56889, 0.03-0.06]

A male builds tall stacks of twigs in one box, then stuffs another and perhaps another.

[House Wren call notes, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/164953881, 0.01-0.04]

His mate will choose her favorite then add the finishing touches to it.

[House Wren call notes, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/164953881, 0.01-0.04]

If this happens in your yard, you can discard the unused “dummy nests” to make room for other takers like swallows or chickadees.

[Carolina Chickadee song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/84817, 0.04-0.08]

The House Wren is a remarkable songbird: successful across two continents, highly adaptable, and a steady and songful presence in our lives.

[House Wren song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/56889, 0.03-0.06]

For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.

###

Senior Producer: John Kessler

Production Manager: Allison Wilson

Producer: Mark Bramhill

Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone

Digital Producer: Conor Gearin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. House Wren ML164953881 recorded by M. Schrimpf, House Wren ML56889 recorded by G. Keller, House Wren ML56882 recorded by G. Keller, Carolina Chickadee ML84817 recorded by W. Hershberger.

BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

© 2021 BirdNote June 2021 Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# HOWR-03-2021-06-24 HOWR-03

Reference

Johnson, L. S. (2020). House Wren (Troglodytes aedon), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.