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Thryothorus ludovicianus

(Latham, 1790)

Carolina Wren

G5Secure Found in 51 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106550
Element CodeABPBG06130
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyTroglodytidae
GenusThryothorus
Other Common Names
Carolina wren (EN) Chivirín de Carolina (ES) Troglodyte de Caroline (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Population in Middle America (Yucatan Penninsula, plus isolated localities in Guatemala and Nicaragua) sometimes has been regarded as a distinct species, T. albinucha (e.g., Phillips 1986, who suspected that albinucha belongs in the genus Troglodytes).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-12-16
Change Date1996-12-03
Edition Date2025-12-16
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G. (1996); rev. R. L. Gundy (2025)
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This species is widespread and highly abundant across North America and northern Central America. There are no major threats and the population is stable or increasing.
Range Extent Comments
This species is resident from eastern Nebraska east to southern Ontario and New England, south through eastern México (including the Yucatán Peninsula), western Belize, northern Guatemala, and (rarely) northern Nicaragua (Haggerty and Morton 2020). The northern range limit retracts after harsh winter, extends northward after mild winter.
Occurrences Comments
There are many occurrences throughout the range.
Threat Impact Comments
No major threats are known. This species is resilient to disturbed habitats.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

A small bird (length 14 cm) with a slender decurved bill, rusty-brown upperparts, buffy underparts, white throat, and prominent white eye stripe (NGS 1983).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from Bewick's wren in having buffy (vs. whitish) underparts and in lacking white on the tail.

Habitat

Open deciduous woodland, mostly in undergrowth and thickets; parks; also shrubbery of residential areas, hammocks, swamps, pine barrens; humid forest edge and clearings.

Nests in small niche or cavity in tree trunk or stump, in a crotch, among roots, in a bank, or among low undergrowth, usually less than 3 m above ground; also nests in various cavities or niches around buildings (Harrison 1978), including potted plants.

Ecology

Pairs stay together on territory after breeding season.

Reproduction

Clutch size is 4-8 (usually 5-6). Often produces two broods per year, sometimes three in the south. Incubation lasts 12-14 days, by female. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 12-14 days.
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedShrubland/chaparralOld fieldSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
FORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
VermontS4Yes
GeorgiaS5Yes
MichiganS2Yes
PennsylvaniaS5BYes
District of ColumbiaS5Yes
VirginiaS5Yes
TennesseeS5Yes
IndianaS4Yes
KansasS5Yes
IowaS3B,S3NYes
New JerseyS5B,S5NYes
IllinoisS5Yes
DelawareS5Yes
Rhode IslandS5B,S5NYes
MinnesotaSXB,SNRMYes
NebraskaS4Yes
MaineS1B,S1NYes
New HampshireS2Yes
MissouriSNRYes
South DakotaSNAYes
New MexicoS4NYes
OklahomaSNRYes
OhioS5Yes
ColoradoS1Yes
AlabamaS5Yes
New YorkS5Yes
LouisianaS5Yes
FloridaS4Yes
West VirginiaS5B,S5NYes
North CarolinaS5Yes
MarylandS5Yes
KentuckyS5Yes
MississippiS5BYes
TexasS5BYes
ConnecticutS5Yes
ArkansasS4Yes
MassachusettsS5Yes
South CarolinaS5Yes
CanadaN4
ProvinceRankNative
QuebecS3Yes
New BrunswickS1Yes
OntarioS4Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
No known threats———

—

Roadless Areas (51)
Alabama (1)
AreaForestAcres
Blue MountainTalladega National Forest4,986
Arkansas (2)
AreaForestAcres
Gee CreekOzark-St. Francis National Forest7,957
Little BlakelyOuachita National Forest3,342
Florida (1)
AreaForestAcres
Alexander Springs CreekOcala National Forest2,954
Georgia (5)
AreaForestAcres
Boggs CreekChattahoochee National Forest2,073
Cedar MountainChattahoochee National Forest1,083
Kelly RidgeChattahoochee National Forest8,325
Lance CreekChattahoochee National Forest9,025
Pink KnobChattahoochee National Forest12,127
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
Illinois (1)
AreaForestAcres
Clear SpringsShawnee National Forest11
New Mexico (2)
AreaForestAcres
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Nichols ReservoirSanta Fe National Forest1,518
North Carolina (9)
AreaForestAcres
Bald MountainPisgah National Forest11,085
Balsam ConePisgah National Forest10,591
BearwallowPisgah National Forest4,113
Jarrett CreekPisgah National Forest7,485
Pond Pine BCroatan National Forest2,961
South Mills RiverPisgah National Forest8,588
Tusquitee BaldNantahala National Forest13,670
Wesser BaldNantahala National Forest4,061
Woods MountainPisgah National Forest9,602
Tennessee (6)
AreaForestAcres
Bald MountainCherokee National Forest11,743
Beaver Dam CreekCherokee National Forest5,070
Sampson Mountain AdditionCherokee National Forest3,064
Stone MountainCherokee National Forest5,367
Sycamore CreekCherokee National Forest6,984
Upper Bald RiverCherokee National Forest9,202
Texas (2)
AreaForestAcres
Big CreekNational Forests in Texas1,447
Little Lake CreekNational Forests in Texas596
Vermont (1)
AreaForestAcres
Griffith Lake 09084Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests1,833
Virginia (18)
AreaForestAcres
Adams PeakGeorge Washington National Forest7,135
Bear CreekJefferson National Forest18,274
Beards MountainGeorge Washington National Forest7,505
Beaver Dam CreekJefferson National Forest1,135
Broad RunJefferson National Forest10,971
Brush MountainJefferson National Forest6,002
Mill MountainGeorge Washington National Forest10,840
North MountainJefferson National Forest8,377
Northern MassanuttenGeorge Washington National Forest9,444
Oak KnobGeorge Washington National Forest10,882
Peters Mountain Addition BJefferson National Forest2,909
Price MountainJefferson National Forest9,119
Raccoon BranchJefferson National Forest4,388
Seng MountainJefferson National Forest6,428
Shawvers Run AdditionJefferson National Forest1,927
Southern MassanuttenGeorge Washington National Forest11,985
The PriestGeorge Washington National Forest5,737
Three RidgesGeorge Washington National Forest4,745
West Virginia (2)
AreaForestAcres
Marlin MountainMonongahela National Forest9,344
Mcgowan MountainMonongahela National Forest10,504
References (27)
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  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. Bent, A.C. 1948. Life histories of North American nuthatches, wrens, thrashers, and their allies. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 195. Washington, DC.
  5. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  6. Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp.
  7. Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, S. Ligocki, O. Robinson, W. Hochachka, L. Jaromczyk, C. Crowley, K. Dunham, A. Stillman, I. Davies, A. Rodewald, V. Ruiz-Gutierrez, and C. Wood. 2023. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2022; Released: 2023. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. doi: 10.2173/ebirdst.2022
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  11. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  12. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
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  14. Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp.
  15. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  16. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  17. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  18. Phillips, A. R. 1986. The known birds of North and Middle America: distribution and variations, migrations, changes, hybrids, etc. Part I, Hirundinidae to Mimidae, Certhiidae. Published by the author, Denver, Colorado. lxi + 259 pp.
  19. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  20. Puebla-Olivares, F., E. Rodríguez-Ayala, B. E. Hernández-Baños, and A. G. Navarro S. 2002. Status and conservation of the avifauna of the Yaxchilán Natural Monument, Chiapas, Mexico. Ornitologia Neotropical 13:381-396.
  21. Rosenberg, K.V, A.M. Dokter, P.J. Blancher, J.R. Sauer, A.C. Smith, P.A. Smith, J.C. Stanton, A. Panjabi, L. Helft, M. Parr, P.P. Marra. 2019. Decline of the North American avifauna. Science. Published online. 19 Sep 2019.
  22. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  23. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  24. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  25. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  26. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  27. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.