Carolina Wren

This is the bird that started my love of birds. I have some little friends that join me on occasion in the little eaves of the overhang of my door. As we walk into our home, we have a little portico and inside that roof, there are a couple of spaces that these sweet little birds like to sleep. It tends to be on nights when it’s not too hot or too cold, and they sleep with their backs to us. It is the cutest thing! They are fuzzy and tiny and it is one of my favorite things to see them outside our door. When I got curious about them, I started to observe them more. Then I had to paint them.

About Carolina Wrens - These little birds are a warm brown color with distinctive marks on their faces of white and black. They are round and sturdy with a red tail that sticks up characteristically. They can’t survive cold climate, so although they can be found in warm weather as far north as the Great Lakes, they tend to stay to the southeastern U.S. They are the official state bird of South Carolina. They live or up to six years, and are about 5” - 5.5” in size with a wingspan of 11”. They eat mostly bugs like spiders, worms, crickets, grasshoppers and millipedes. They have been known to eat a lizard or a tree frog too! They have a few predators as well, like Blue Jays & Cooper’s Hawks. Their nests can be threatened by raccoons, rat snakes, squirrels and grey foxes.

They have a pretty song and will sing in duet with their mate. They may mate for life, defending a territory. They make the nests together, and both feed the young when they have hatched from their eggs. The male will also bring food for the female when she is incubating. The nests are roughly made with a variety of material, and found in cubbies and cavities, usually no higher than 10 feet off the ground. They have between 1-3 broods per year with about 5-6 eggs each. The babies will stay in the nest with mom and dad for about 12-14 days before they go out on their own.

I hope you take time to watch the birds in your neighborhood and hopefully you will see one of these cuties!

I found my information using a variety of websites, including: Audobon.org, and All About Birds

Learn More: Audobon.org