Bewick's Wren Identification

Medium-sized brown wren with a long tail that is often held up. The bill is long and slightly curved. Note white eyebrow and dark barring on the tail.

Boisterous and curious medium-sized wren with a bold white eyebrow stripe. Plumage varies regionally from rusty-brown in humid regions to gray in drier regions in the U.S.

Holds tail up over the back, often flicking it from side to side or fanning it as they skulk through tangles of branches and leaves searching for insects.

Curious wren with a long tail that it often holds up. It is brown overall with dark barring on the tail and pale gray underparts. The bold white eyebrow is a key field mark.

Plumage color varies regionally from rusty in more humid regions to gray in desert regions. Birds from San Francisco Bay south to Monterey, California, have less rusty coloring than birds farther north.

Males and females build a cup-shaped nest with grasses, rootlets, and leaves inside a hole in a tree or on a protected ledge.

Found in dry brushy areas, chaparral, scrub, thickets, and open woodlands near streams. They are at home in gardens and parks in cities and suburbs. Nests in holes in trees or on protected ledges.