Length: About 5½ inches; the largest of the six more common eastern wrens.

Male and Female: Reddish-brown above; no bars or streaks, except on wings and tail, and occasionally underneath the body, near the tail; a long light line over the eye, extending to the shoulders; under parts buff with a brownish wash; throat white.

Notes: “Wren-like chucks of annoyance or interrogation,” and “a peculiar fluttering k-r-r-r-r-uck, which resembles the bleating call of a tree-toad.”[33]

Song: A loud clear whistle, consisting of three similar syllables, with variations.

Habitat: Thickets, vines, and undergrowth.

Range: Eastern United States. Breeds from southeastern Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, the lower Hudson and Connecticut valleys south to central Texas, Gulf States, and northern Florida; casual north to Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Professor Beal writes of this interesting wren as follows: “The Carolina wren is resident from the Gulf of Mexico north to the southern boundaries of Iowa, Illinois, and Connecticut in the breeding season, but in winter it withdraws somewhat farther south. It is a bird of the thicket and undergrowth, preferring to place its nest in holes and crannies, but when necessary, will build a bulky structure in a tangle of twigs and vines. Unlike the house wren it does not ordinarily use the structures of man for nesting sites.

“It is one of the few American birds that sing throughout the year. Most birds sing, or try to, in the mating season, but the Carolina wren may be heard pouring forth his melody of song every month. The writer’s first introduction to this bird was in the month of January when he heard gushing from a thicket a song which reminded him of June instead of midwinter.

“This wren keeps up the reputation of the family as an insect-eater, as over nine-tenths of its diet consists of insects and their allies.” Stomach analysis shows that the vegetable food of the Carolina wren is largely seeds of trees and shrubs and some wild berries. He concludes: “From this analysis of the food of the Carolina wren, it is evident that the farmer and fruit-grower have not the slightest cause for complaint against the bird. It eats neither cultivated fruit nor grain, and does not even nest in an orchard tree; but it does feed on numerous injurious insects and enlivens the tangled thickets with its cheerful songs for twelve months of the year.”[34]

Dr. Witmer Stone writes of the song of the Carolina wren as follows: “His most characteristic song has been likened by Mr. Chapman to tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, and to whee-udle, whee-udle, whee-udle. Wilson wrote it sweet-william, sweet-william, sweet-william; and to Audubon it seemed to say come-to-me, come-to-me, come-to-me. It has variations recalling forms in the Cardinal’s song, and also that of the Tufted Titmouse; and the Wren after repeating one form for some time, often changes suddenly to another producing a rather startling effect, as if another bird has taken its place.”[35]