Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

A male House Wren singing at Lakeland Drive, Putnam County, Tennessee, 25 April 2016; photograph Stephen J. Stedman.

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

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Abundance: Uncommon during spring, summer, and fall, becoming Fairly Common in locales with optimal habitat; Very Uncommon during winter; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts indicate that the population breeding in the Region is increasing and has been doing so for several or more decades (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; Very Uncommon Visitor during winter.

Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 65 (14 May 2005; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC], m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 31 (20 September 2008; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (non-CBC Winter) Records: 

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: x (

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 20 April; fall departure largely complete by 1 November; so many early winter (i.e., CBC) records have accumulated, along with a lesser number of records from January and February, that this species will eventually be deemed a Permanent Resident of the Region, obviating the need for extreme dates.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

* Possibly a wintering individual; ** Many records during the following winter.

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). An obligate cavity nester, this wren is easily attracted to artificial nest boxes, including those erected for Eastern Bluebirds.  House Wrens are highly territorial during the breeding season not only toward others of their own species but also toward other small cavity-nesting species, such as Carolina Chickadees; House Wrens will sometimes remove eggs or small young of other species from nest boxes.

Habitat: Optimal habitat occurs in older subdivisons with a noticeable component of dense shrubbery.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 17 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 32 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to YardWatch frequency classifications of Uncommon and Fairly Common, respectively; the former of these YardWatch frequency classifications is fairly consistent with the overall Regional abundance classification, while the latter is less consistent with it.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: House Wrens have been recorded on a number of the Christmas Bird Counts conducted around the Region. These records are not included in Out-of-Season (non-CBC Winter) Records (above).  Records from January and February are many fewer than records from December, perhaps because less effort is expended during the former months or perhaps because the population of wintering House Wrens decreases after December.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited