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Wrens are extremely popular birds that you can find all over the place. These small birds are a joy to watch, and with so many varieties, they can live in a wide range of environments. From deserts to frozen tundra, you can find wrens everywhere. The United States is one of the few countries in the world with a bit of everything, so it’s no surprise that 10 different wren species call this country their home for at least part of the year.
Scientific Name: | Troglodytes aedon |
Population: | 160 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 5.9 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 to 0.4 ounces |
The most common type of wren in the United States is the house wren. Their numbers exceed 160 million, and you can find them all across the continental United States.
While they’re not year-round residents anywhere in the U.S., they cover just about every square inch at some point throughout the year.
Scientific Name: | Thryothorus ludovicianus |
Population: | 17 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 11.4 inches |
Weight: | 0.6 to 0.8 ounces |
If you live on the eastern side of the United States, the Carolina wren is likely a year-round resident near you. While they don’t venture farther north than Massachusetts, you can find them all the way down the coast and around the Gulf of Mexico.
With their numbers exceeding 17 million, these birds are plentiful, but they’re not quite as populous as the house wren.
Scientific Name: | Troglodytes hiemalis |
Population: | 11 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 4.7 to 6.3 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 to 0.4 ounces |
The winter wren is another bird that you can find along the East Coast. They spend most of their time in the United States during the winter months, though you can find a few small pockets where they have a year-round presence in Pennsylvania and New York. During the warmer months, they fly farther north and live throughout Canada.
Scientific Name: | Cistothorus palustris |
Population: | 9.4 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 5.9 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 to 0.5 ounces |
The marsh wren is a bird that you can find just about anywhere in the continental United States for at least part of the year. But while other birds have more typical migration areas, the marsh wren is a bit more complicated.
They have a non-breeding range in some of the lower states, and they visit the northern states during the breeding season. However, they don’t ever settle in many of the areas in between, only flying through there when migrating.
Scientific Name: | Thryomanes bewickii |
Population: | 7.9 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 7.1 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 to 0.4 ounces |
While you can find the Bewick’s wren in the United States, they have a small range. If you head to a few of the states in the center of the United States, you can find these birds. However, they also live up the Pacific coast, inhabiting the entire coastline of California, Oregon, and Washington State all year round.
In the central United States, you can find them in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma.
Scientific Name: | Troglodytes pacificus |
Population: | 7.5 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 4.7 to 6.3 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 to 0.4 ounces |
As the name implies, you’re only going to find the Pacific wren if you’re near the Pacific coast. You can find them as far south as Los Angeles during the non-breeding season, but they are year-long residents all the way up and along the Alaskan coastline.
Scientific Name: | Cistothorus stellaris |
Population: | 5.4 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 4.7 to 5.5 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 ounces |
The sedge wren is another bird in the wren family that has a peculiar range in the United States. They mostly hang out around the Gulf Coast, but you can find them in northern states like Michigan and Wisconsin during the breeding season.
They only visit the in-between areas during migration. Furthermore, if you head too far east or west, you’ll miss these birds entirely.
Scientific Name: | Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus |
Population: | 7 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 11 inches |
Weight: | 1.18 and 1.65 ounces |
The name of the cactus wren tells you exactly where you can find these birds. They thrive in warm climates, and you can find them in southern portions of the United States.
They live in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. These are all areas with plenty of deserts, and that’s exactly where you can find the cactus wren.
While the cactus wren is a small bird, it’s actually the largest wren in the United States.
Scientific Name: | Catherpes mexicanus |
Population: | 1 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 7.1 to 7.9 inches |
Weight: | 0.3 to 0.7 inches |
While many wrens prefer to hang out on the eastern coast of the United States, that’s not the case with the canyon wren. These small birds live on the western side of the country, but they don’t live along the Pacific coast, like many other wrens.
Wherever they live, they are year-round inhabitants. They can handle hot Texas summers and frigid Idaho winters with ease.
Scientific Name: | Salpinctes obsoletus |
Population: | 4.1 million |
IUCN Status: | Least Concern |
Wingspan: | 8.7 to 9.4 |
Weight: | 0.5 to 0.6 ounces |
The rock wren is a small bird that lives in the United States. They’re considered a “short distance migrant” bird, and when you look at their range, it’s not hard to see why.
They have plenty of year-round areas where they reside in the United States, though. While you can find them in cold states, like Montana and Idaho, they generally only live there during the warm summer months, when they’re looking to breed.
Now that you know more about all the different wren species in the United States, you can try to track down a few of them to watch on your own.
These small birds are beautiful to look at, and due to their extreme adaptability and versatility, it doesn’t seem like any of them are going anywhere any time soon.
Featured Image Credit: Matthew Jolley, Shutterstock
Robert’s obsession with all things optical started early in life, when his optician father would bring home prototypes for Robert to play with. Nowadays, Robert is dedicated to helping others find the right optics for their needs. His hobbies include astronomy, astrophysics, and model building. Originally from Newark, NJ, he resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the nighttime skies are filled with glittering stars.
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