Carolina Wrens, House Wrens, and Bewick’s Wrens
Wrens are charismatic, cavity-nesting birds that delight us with song when they appear at backyard feeders or make use of nest boxes. But they can make for very tricky IDs! These three common wrens are similarly brown and nondescript. Even so, there are a few helpful keys to make an ID. Check out our quick review below.
| Wren Species | Range | Visual Clues |
|---|---|---|
| Carolina Wren | Central and eastern North America | Rufous-brown above with dark barring in the wings, pale cinnamon below White eyebrow stripe and white throat |
| House Wren | Most of North and South America | Brown above with thin, dark barring in the wings and a pale throat. Drab gray-brown below. No eyebrow stripe, or only a very faint buffy stripe Smaller than Carolina and Bewick’s Wrens, with a shorter tail |
| Bewick’s Wren | Central and western North America | Gray-brown above, pale gray below White eyebrow stripe |
Have you got all of that? Put these clues to the test with Bird Academy’s SnapID tool and practice distinguishing among these three wren species. You can replay the quiz as many times as you want. Each time you hit “Play Again,” you’ll have new photo matchups to practice on. Just click “Start SnapID Challenge” to get started!
Test Your Wren ID Skills
Now that you’re comfortable with these three common wrens, you might want to get to know more! In the U.S. and Canada alone, there are ten wren species to look out for. Check them all out on All About Birds to see which ones appear near you.
Interested in learning even more about backyard birds? Dive in to the details with Feeder Birds: Identification and Behavior and get to know 60+ feeder-bird species in the U.S. and Canada. If you’re a feeder-bird fan, you’ll also want to check out our newest free poster illustrated by Maria Klos, which highlights popular feeder setups and common feeder birds of the Eastern and Western U.S. and Canada.