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The Crafty Carolina Wren
Raising up to seven young at a time in surprising places.
© Ann & Victor
Though half the size of a robin, the Carolina Wren has a powerful singing voice that seems to come from a much bigger bird. Many people remember their song with the phrase, “teakettle-teakettle-teakettle!” When these secretive birds venture into the open, look for their cocked tail, bright white eyebrows, tan breasts, and golden-brown backs. One reason these wrens thrive in cityscapes is their ability to build a nest in creative places: everything from an old boot to a window flower box to an engine block are potential places to raise their brood.
BirdNote®
The Crafty Carolina Wren
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Carolina Wren song]
Though half the size of a robin, the Carolina Wren has a powerful singing voice that seems to come from a much bigger bird. Many people remember their song with the phrase, “teakettle-teakettle-teakettle!”
[Carolina Wren song]
They also have a distinctive call, a raspy-sounding “chirr, chirr!”
[Carolina Wren “cheer” calls]
When these secretive birds venture into the open, look for their cocked tail, bright white eyebrows, tan breasts, and golden-brown backs. They’re a common bird throughout parks and backyards in much of the eastern U.S.
[Carolina Wren “cheer” calls]
One reason these wrens thrive in cityscapes is their ability to build a nest in creative places: everything from an old boot to a window flower box to an engine block are potential places to raise their brood.
[Carolina Wren song]
These little birds raise up to seven tiny young at a time. If that nursery rhyme — you know, the old woman who lived in a shoe with so many children seemed silly to you — well, it certainly doesn’t to the crafty, adaptable Carolina Wren. Their many offspring appear, as if by magic, from the unlikeliest of places.
[Carolina Wren song]
For BirdNote, I’m Purbita Saha.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Carolina Wren ML539654 and ML107362 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote August 2024/2026
Narrator: Purbita Saha
ID# CARW-01-2024-08-09 CARW-01
Purbita Saha
Narrator
Conor Gearin
WriterSights & Sounds
