The Carolina wren is an active little bird that is with us all year round. Measuring five to six inches, it s the largest of the eastern wrens. Its song, sung especially early in the morning, is commonly heard around homes even though many people don’t recognize it. It’s a three- syllable song described as “tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle” or “teacher-teacher-teacher.” Their stocky little bodies quiver as they put their all into singing. They are bold little birds and if you encroach upon their territory, they’ll let you know by scolding you with a raspy, drawn-out call, or a rapid chattering.

     Their nest building habits are a point of interest; because of the odd places they build. They’ll nest in rock piles, wood piles, crevices of any kind, in cooking grills, wash basins, flower pots, gate posts, clothespin bags, light fixtures; anything left outside for a time.

     One friend of mine left his carpenter’s belt out on a table or bench on an open porch and in three days he had a wren nesting in it! People have had wrens build nests under the hood of their car or in the windshield wiper well! They especially like old sheds, out buildings, woodpiles, wooden bridges; anything, it seems, associated with wooden structures. Of course they will take to normal man-made birdhouses as well. In the wild they build in brush heaps, thickets, and tree cavities.

     Beginning in April, the female will lay about four eggs that are white to pinkish buff in color, thickly smattered with brownish pink. They raise two broods, often three in the south. If you have a couple of broods raised in your yard, you will have wrens with you all winter, because they are non-migratory.

     Carolina wrens are a plain rusty brown with a buffy eye stripe bordered above by a narrow dark stripe and buffy undersides. They have the typical short wren tail often cocked upward, and a stocky little body. Their flight is weak and fluttery on small rounded wings 

     They are common in residential areas, on farms, as well as woodland edges, tangles of greenbrier, and swampy thickets, usually close to or on the ground. Find a slash pile of brush and you’ll usually find a Carolina wren. Typical of all wrens, they move about quickly and nervously, searching all nooks and crannies, investigating flower pots, lawn furniture, on the ground in flower beds, and the staked or caged tomatoes in the garden. They feed on spiders, insects, slugs, but also wild fruits and small seeds, and will visit the feeders in winter for tidbits of food. They seem to like to feed around the bases of good-sized trees either at dawn or at dusk in winter.

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