Eurasian Wren Life History

Habitat

Eurasian Wrens breed in an impressive array of habitats, including damp forest with extensive undergrowth, gardens, parks, overgrown clearings, stream valleys with dense vegetation, heathland, seabird cliffs, and more. They forage and take cover low in bushes, hedgerows, overturned trees, and brush piles, and they nest and roost in stone walls, rock crevices, and banks. Outside of the breeding season, Eurasian Wrens are even more varied in their habitat use, occurring from shorelines and coastal marshes to moorlands and mountain boulder fields. This versatility makes them a familiar species; in the United Kingdom, for example, they are one of the country's most widespread species.

Food

Eurasian Wrens feed primarily on insects, spiders, and other invertebrates (such as snails), but they occasionally eat small fish and young frogs. Common insect prey include beetles, bugs, butterflies, and moths (both adults and larvae). Wrens typically forage on or near the ground, gleaning prey from leaves, twigs, crevices, and leaf litter.

Nesting

Nest Placement

The male builds several nests, placing them in brambles, trees, crevices, holes, and sometimes inside buildings. The female then chooses the nest she wants to use and lines the inside.

Nest Description

A domed structure with a side entrance. The male builds the nest with leaves, grass, and moss, and the female lines the inside with feathers and hair.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Eurasian Wrens can be inconspicuous and mouselike, scurrying about in dense vegetation in search of food or cover. At other times they draw attention to themselves with their powerful songs and noisy, chattering calls. Eurasian Wrens are energetic creatures, vigorously probing for food, flicking their wings, bobbing and turning their bodies, and frequently raising their tails.

In some breeding populations, pairs are monogamous, but in others up to half the males mate with two or more females. Even in monogamous pairs, bonds are weak: the female usually mates with a different male during a second brood (and between nesting seasons). The female alone incubates eggs. The male’s role in feeding nestlings varies from an equal share to little or no involvement, but once the young have fledged (after about 17 days), the male helps care for them until they are fully independent.

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Eurasian Wren’s conservation status as Least Concern due to an extremely large range, increasing population trend, and extremely large population size (estimated at 215–380 million individuals).

Credits

BirdLife International. 2018. Troglodytes troglodytes. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T103883277A132200296. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T103883277A132200296.en.

Byrkjedal, I., Lislevand, T. and Vogler, S. (2012). Do passerine birds utilise artificial light to prolong their diurnal activity during winter at northern latitudes? Ornis Norvegica. 35(1): 37–42.

Chesser, R.T., Banks, R.C., Barker, F.K., Cicero, C., Dunn, J.L., Kratter, A.W., Lovette, I.J., Rasmussen, P.C., Remsen, J.V., Rising, J.D., Stotz, D.F. and Winker, K. (2010). Fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-List of North American Birds. Auk 127(3): 726-744.

Cramp, S., Editor (1988). The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Volume 5: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Jonsson, L. (1992). Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Christopher Helm, London, United Kingdom.

Kroodsma, D. E., D. Brewer, D. A. Christie, and J. S. Marks (2020). Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.winwre4.01

Svensson, L., K. Mullarney, and D. Zetterström (2009). Collins Bird Guide. Second edition. HarperCollins, London, UK.

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