Carolina Wrens are often heard not seen as their distinctive ‘teakettle,teakettle,teakettle’ (or ‘germany, germany germany’ or ‘tweedle, tweedle, tweedle’) rings out through forested areas and wooded backyards in the eastern U.S. Their voices can carry quite a distance so many are serenaded by these wrens singing their many verses from various perches around the neighborhood.
Click here to listen on the Audubon Guides website to some of their various songs and calls.
This wren species is quite attractive with buff to cinnamon colored plumage, a bold white eye stripe, long and down-curved bill, white throat, and more often than not with their tails cocked up in the air giving a good view of the distinctive horizontal bars underneath.
Carolina Wren is one of Birds and Blooms Magazine’s ‘Most Wanted Birds’. And Jill blogged about them last year so you can see more photos and read more about them on her blog.
Though where I live, which is in Colorado, is west of their range several Carolina Wrens ventured to a wooded area less than a quarter mile from my house. They stayed for several summers and at least one winter but apparently this location did not meet their needs as we haven’t seen them for a few years. I used to enjoy walking on the local trail through there and hearing them sing. I even heard them sing while I was working in my yard one time.
Now I have to be content with hearing them, and spotting them sometimes, when I travel further east. I understand that they are attracted to suet and peanut feeders in backyards.
Do you have them in your area?
Do they come to suet or other feeders in your yard?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Seetta, The Carolina and House wren are frequent visitors on the coastal N.E. area in our yard!
I just LOVE their ‘song’ calls and perky stand-up tails. Yes, suet, peanut butter, sunflower seed they will eat and safflower
seed too. They especially go for insects and spiders.
P.S. I’m hoping you and your family are staying safe from those horrible fires spreading in CO.
Hello Deborah- Thanks, the forest fires are a distance away but the smoke has been bad sometimes. The wildfires in Colorado have been hard on birds and other wildlife as many residential areas already encroaching on their habitat plus terrible drought and heat this year.
So Carolina Wrens will eat safflower seeds, that is very interesting. This could help those who have squirrels destroying their suet and sunflower seed feeders –not always effective but some squirrels do not develop a liking to safflower seeds. Your note about how Carolina and House Wrens are big insect eaters is a good reminder to be very careful in using pesticides since this kills the insect food that brings these beautiful singers to yards-not to mention killing butterflies (they are insects too).
Thanks for your post
Here at the edge of Greenville, South Carolina, we enjoy the Carolina wrens. Sometimes one sits on the banister of our deck while I am just inside working in our kitchen. The song is unbelievably loud — and cheery! –for such a small creature. Sometimes I am able to look out the window and watch him briefly without frightening him away. The wrens sometimes come to the feeder to enjoy the seeds my husband puts out for them. Now and then I catch a glimpse of one taking a drink at the water pan we keep filled on a retaining wall in the backyard.
Elaine-thanks for sharing your experience with these small birds with big bird sound. Looks like you are fortunate to be able to get a close look from time to time.
Here in Willingboro, NJ, the only birds to use one of my seven birdhouses this spring are Carolina wrens! And they’re using the smallest, cheapest birdhouse… a crafty little cottage-like house that hangs from a “junk” tree on the east side of the backyard. I always hear them and occasionally see one atop the fence near their house, or sometimes entering their house. The youngsters are a noisy lot but haven’t seen any of them. Mom or dad sometimes flies to one of my many feeders under the nearby maple tree or goes on the ground near my composter. Once I saw one take a bath in my hanging water feeder (which has those four small black cups around it that suit the tiny wrens, chickadees and titmice for bathing). I seldom see them further than 50 feet from their home area. Do you have any ideas for how I can attract other birds to my other sizes and styles of birdhouses??
Lavonne, how delightful to have a pair of Carolina Wrens take up residence in one of your bird houses. Sounds like the family, though the kids like all kids are noisy, are providing a lot of entertainment for you.
If you have a large property with open fields or there are open fields adjacent to your property. Per the experts at the North American Bluebird Society, “Habitat is the key factor to consider when setting up a bluebird trail. Open rural country with scattered trees and low or sparse ground cover is best. Suitable habitat should include a fence line, wires, tree branches, or other sites where bluebirds can perch to search for food. If bluebirds do not like the habitat, they probably will not use your nestboxes.
• Open pastureland, parks away from human traffic, and mowed areas such as cemeteries and golf courses are all good locations for a bluebird trail.”
Purple Martins nest in special apartment-like bird houses in New Jersey.
Besides bluebirds, Purple Martins and wrens, there are few bird species that will nest in bird houses in residential areas (see special habitat below) with the unfortunate exception of the non-native House (English) Sparrows and European Starlings, both species that will kill native baby birds (like your baby wrens) and sometimes even native adult birds to take over their nests.
If you have a small tree thicket on your property, chickadees and Tufted Titmice will use bird houses.
If you have open fields or larger water (ponds,etc) in or near large property Tree Swallows use nest boxes.
If you have woodlands on your property, several species of woodpeckers use nestboxes as do Eastern Screech-Owls (though both woodpeckers and owls require rather large bird houses).
American Robins use ledges for nesting and they sell open nest ‘houses’ for them but I have been unsuccessful in getting any robins to use one.
Many bird houses need to be specific sizes and have exact sized entry holes (to exclude other birds that might harm their young). The National Wildlife Federation has a very good article on this. Hope this helps.