Wren Troglodytes troglodytes
A diminutive, secretive, common brown bird which can be found almost anywhere. You can spot them restlessly flitting and hopping about between hedges and low shrubbery, failing that you may hear their loud distinctive song as it trills through the garden.
Conservation status in Norfolk
The wren population is basically stable and in fact numbers have risen across Europe since the 1980s. The biggest problem for these tiny birds is cold weather, during which many die, so milder winters are helpful for wrens overall although if climate change affects the small insects on which they feed, there could be trouble ahead.
How to help
Wrens prefer to feed in and around cover and have very small, pointed beaks, so scatter small crumbs of cake or other fatty food such as cheese around the bases of bushes. Fat-cakes or bars are good if placed near the ground or within a bush or hedge, if you make your own, crushed peanuts or sunflower hearts can be added. Leave a shed window open in spring so they can nest in a quiet corner, try not to tidy or renovate neglected porches or outbuildings in the breeding season.
Alan Price
Information on the Wren
How to recognise
A tiny brown bird, common and found almost everywhere but quite secretive, given away by its very loud song. Wrens have round, tubby bodies and hold their tails cocked upright; this gives them a very distinctive shape - they are the dumpiest, most compact little birds you will see in the garden (although actually they are around twice the weight of the goldcrest, our smallest breeding bird). They are not high-fliers but flit quickly from bush to bush, short rounded wings whirring, like fat brown bees. On the ground, they hop and scuttle like small brown mice, restless and feisty. Through binoculars you will see a pale eye-stripe and the sharp, narrow beak of an insect-eater; the wings and flanks are barred. In the breeding season, listen for an extraordinarily loud song, easy to recognise with its distinctive trills.
Where to see
Our most abundant and widespread breeding bird can be found pretty much anywhere, although wrens dislike being far from cover so open farmland is not favoured. Gardens and parks are where most are seen, they breed both in city centres and on remote islands. Any kind of hedge, nestbox, shed, nook or cranny does for nesting; the male builds several shaggy, hollow balls of vegetation, the female chooses her favourite and carefully lines it with hair and feathers. In the 1986 Norfolk Bird Atlas, wrens were recorded in 93% of the surveyed area.
When to see
Throughout the year. British wrens do not migrate and of 10,000 wrens ringed in Norfolk, only three moved more than 100km. Males (and occasionally females) sing all year but most intensely just after dawn in early spring and summer. In winter wrens sometimes roost communally; in 1969, 61 sheltered in a single Norfolk nestbox.
Did you know?
In many countries the wren was traditionally held to be the king of birds. In parts of Britain and France, however, they were ancient symbols of the underworld, probably because they (quite innocently!) feed and nest in dark nooks and crevices.
Related questions
Do female birds sing?
Modern research challenges the old belief that only male birds sing. This was a relic of anthropomorphic assumptions about birds' 'family life', like the long-held belief that small birds are faithfully monogamous partners, now disproved in many species by DNA analysis. A particular problem in the field is that in many of our common songbirds, such as robin, dunnock and wren, we ourselves cannot tell male from female. But, by catching birds of known sex (in the breeding season) and marking them, for example with unique combinations of coloured leg rings, it has been found that in fact females do sing in all these species.
Both male and female robins sing in autumn, a softer, quieter song than the spring song which is mostly (but not exclusively) produced by males. Some female dunnocks sing more than others, for unknown reasons, although their song is shorter and less elaborate than that of the male. Dominant paired females may use it to manipulate their complicated menages of two or more males. Most singing wrens are indeed male, but females can sing when they choose, and have in addition a unique 'whisper-song' they use to communicate with their chicks. In fact, all female songbirds produce a wide repertoire of sounds, while feeding, as alarms and for communication with mates and young; many of these could be described as 'song'. The quieter, softer song produced by female birds is often known as 'subsong'; in many species it is produced all year round and is no less important in the birds' lives than the loud territorial song of the male.
How can I learn bird songs and calls?
The best way to learn is by spending time outside listening to songs and calls with someone who can already recognise them. Most people find it impossible to learn more than a couple of new calls or songs in a day so it's worth focusing in on just a couple of species during a walk. Once you really know the calls made by common species such as robins, wrens, great tits and wood pigeons, it will become progressively easier to pick out anything different.
CDs of bird songs and calls can be helpful too and are available from Norfolk Wildlife Trust at its visitor centres, such as
NWT Cley Marshes nature reserve.
Wildsounds, based in Norfolk, offers a huge range of CDs by mail order and can be contacted via the website www.wildsounds.co.uk. Many
guided walks are organised by NWT on its nature reserves and these often provide opportunities to learn from and with others who will be delighted to share their knowledge.
What is the best position for a bird nest box?
Facing it between north and east is best to avoid the worst of the sunlight, wind and rain. If the nest box is tilted forward slightly it will help any rain run off. It is important that the entrance is clear to enable birds to have an easy flight path.
The height the nest box should be placed depends on the species it is intended for. Boxes for tits, sparrows, spotted flycatchers and starlings are best placed 2 to 4 metres high, whereas open fronted nest boxes designed for robins and wrens are best placed lower down in thick cover at between 1 and 2m above ground. Woodpecker boxes can be higher at 5-10m and placed on a tree truck.
Boxes for barn owls and kestrels need to be sighted overlooking open land on the edge of woodland or on farmland. Tawny owl boxes are best within woodland itself. They should be placed at least 5 metres above the ground.