House Wren, Troglodytes aedon

House Wren, Troglodytes aedon parkmanii. Photograph taken within the greater Alamos area, Sonora, January 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

House Wren, Troglodytes aedon parkmanii. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, April 2010. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

House Wren, Troglodytes aedon parkmanii. Photograph taken within a residential community in Del Mar, California, November 2024. Photograph courtesy of Carol Snow, Del Mar, California.  Identification courtesy of Julie McGhee, Riverside, California.

The House Wren, Troglodytes aedon parkmanii, is one of thirty-two subspecies of House Wren, of which fourteen are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Troglodytidae Family of Wrens, that has eighty-six members placed in nineteen genera, and one of twelve global species in the Troglodytes Genus. They are known in Mexico as chivirín saltapared and saltapared común.

The House Wren is a moderately small wren. The sexes are similar with the males being slightly larger than the females. They appear from a distance as being a uniform brownish gray without additional markings. Their head, nape and back are a uniform brown with a pale, indistinct superciliary line and no striping on the crown. Their throat and chest are uniformly light gray, sometimes with buffy or brownish tinge. Their bill is slightly decurved and dusky brown or brownish black; tomia and entire lower mandible yellowish or a pale horn color with a yellow gape; their iris is brown, and their legs and feet are dark brown.

The House Wren are ubiquitous and one of the best-known songbirds in North America. Within Mexico they are non-migratory being highly territorial and found as solitary individuals, in pairs or within family groups during breeding season. They are common in open, shrubby woodlands and in small towns and suburban backwards, and city parks. They have an affinity for human-made birdhouses. They feed on small, terrestrial invertebrates from most available substrates including bare ground, leaf litter, herbaceous ground cover, and all parts of shrubs and trees. In turn their nests are preyed upon by bears, domestic cats, falcons, fox, hawks, jays, mice, opossums, owls, rats, raccoons, squirrels, various snakes, weasels, and woodpeckers. They have life spans of up to seven years.

The House Wren has a unique song, and they lack any form of bold or characteristic markings providing for a straightforward identification.

In Mexico House Wren is found throughout the country. The parkmanii subspecies is found in Baja California and Sonora.

From a conservation perspective the House Wren is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. They are very tolerant and thrive within human development which is attributed to reduced levels of nest predations.