House Wren, side-on
Troglodytes aedon
House Wren · San Diego Botanic Garden · 7 March 2026
A House Wren side-on in the scrub of a San Diego garden, angled enough to show the thin, slightly downcurved bill that separates a wren from the sparrows sharing the same bushes. One of the most widespread birds in the Americas, breeding from Canada to the southern tip of South America, and in Southern California present all year.
A bill built for probing bark and leaf litter for insects rather than cracking seed; the cocked tail and the barred wings are the rest of the picture. One of the most belligerent birds for its size: a House Wren will pierce the eggs of other cavity-nesting birds to claim the hole.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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