wren

/rɛn/

/rɛn/

Other forms: wrens

That tiny brown bird you see flitting past your window may be a wren, especially if it's got a tiny, upright tail.

Wrens are busy little brown birds, mostly found in North and South America. Often wrens are tiny and inconspicuous, with small wings and stubby little tails, although their songs can be quite noisy and complex. The origin of the word wren isn't known beyond the fact that it was wrenna in Old English, from a Germanic root.

Definitions of wren

1. noun

   any of several small active brown birds of the northern hemisphere with short upright tails; they feed on insects
   synonyms: jenny wren

   types:

   Troglodytes troglodytes, winter wren

   small wren of coniferous forests of northern hemisphere

   Troglodytes aedon, house wren

   common American wren that nests around houses

   marsh wren

   a wren of the genus Cistothorus that frequents marshes

   Salpinctes obsoletus, rock wren

   wren inhabiting badlands and mesa country of western United States and Mexico

   Carolina wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus

   large United States wren with a musical call

   cactus wren

   large harsh-voiced American wren of arid regions of the United States southwest and Mexico

   Cistothorus palustris, long-billed marsh wren

   American wren that inhabits tall reed beds

   Cistothorus platensis, sedge wren, short-billed marsh wren

   small American wren inhabiting wet sedgy meadows

   type of:

   passeriform bird, passerine

   perching birds mostly small and living near the ground with feet having 4 toes arranged to allow for gripping the perch; most are songbirds; hatchlings are helpless