Troglodytes hiemalis
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Winter Wren sighting in Isle Royale National Park on a given day, based on 160 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 105 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
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.
Yes
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Winter Wren sightings, Isle Royale National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Congaree National Park (United States, about 20%) and Acadia National Park (United States, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Winter Wren that you can see in Isle Royale National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Yellow-rumped Warbler (about 70%), White-throated Sparrow (about 70%) and Black-capped Chickadee (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Winter Wren is recorded against all the birds logged in Isle Royale National Park (160 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.
