House Wren

A little brown bird - the House Wren is the plainest of all wrens, and only 4 1/2-inch. It is dark brown above and light brown below, without any streaks or eye lines in either sex. It can be found in almost all backyards, farmland, and open forests. Eats insects, caterpillars, grasshoppers and spiders. House Wrens are famous for where they nest: boots, car radiators, mailboxes, and laundry on clotheslines. They build stick nests lined with grass, plant fibers, feathers, and rubbish. In the wild, they choose a hole in a tree or other natural crevice. The 6 or 7 cinnamon-speckled white eggs are incubated for about 13 days; young leave the nest at 12 to 18 days of age. Among the most common backyard nesters, House Wrens may be lured with wren houses 4 by 4 by 6 inches high with a 1 1/2-inch entrance hole, placed 6 to 10 feet above the ground. Try several in the same half-acre. Wrens also use brush, woodpiles, berry tangles, and wild areas.

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