Troglodytes hiemalis
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The winter wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. The species was formerly often lumped together with Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) of Eurasia and Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus) of western North America under the merged name of northern wren (with the scientific name T. troglodytes having priority), until they were split in 2010.
It breeds in coniferous forests from British Columbia to the Atlantic Ocean. It migrates through and winters across southeastern Canada, the eastern half the United States and (rarely) north-eastern Mexico. Small numbers may be casual in the western United States and Canada.
The scientific name for its genus is taken from the Greek word troglodytes (from "trogle" a hole, and "dyein" to creep), meaning "cave-dweller", and may refer to their tendency to nest in cavities or their foraging behavior, in which the winter wren almost exclusively ground-gleans in thick underbrush.
The winter wren was described and illustrated in 1808 by the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. He was uncertain as to whether the wren should be considered a separate... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Voyageurs National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 12 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Winter Wren sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 220th most-seen of the 270 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Winter Wren in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Big Bend National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 50 mm in September.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Winter Wren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Winter Wren sightings, Big Bend National Park ranks 12th at under 5%. The best odds are in Isle Royale National Park (United States, about 40%), Congaree National Park (United States, about 20%) and Acadia National Park (United States, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Winter Wren is recorded against all the birds logged in Big Bend National Park (27 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
