Carolina wren, the state bird of South Carolina

How to recognize it

The Carolina wren is small, about 5.5 inches long, roughly the size of a sparrow, with a rounded tail it often holds cocked. Its upperparts are warm chestnut brown and its underparts buff or cinnamon, and it has a bold white stripe above the eye. Males and females look alike. Unlike Bewick’s wren, it has no white corners on its tail.

You will usually hear it before you see it. The song is a loud, ringing tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, delivered all day and in every season, and pairs sometimes duet, the female chattering while the male sings.

How it lives

Carolina wrens eat mostly insects, such as caterpillars, beetles, bugs and crickets, along with spiders, adding some berries and seeds in winter. Pairs forage together through low tangles and visit feeders for suet and peanuts. They hold their territories all year and nest in almost any cavity, from tree hollows to garage shelves, often raising two or three broods.

The species is a year-round resident of the eastern United States, living in dense undergrowth in woods, thickets at forest edges and tangled suburban yards and gardens. Its northern edge creeps north after mild winters and pulls back after severe ones.

Where to see one in South Carolina

The Carolina wren lives in every part of South Carolina all year, so backyards, parks and woodland edges anywhere in the state are good places to look. Listen for its song in any month.

Doing well

The Carolina wren is a species of least concern. Audubon puts the population at about 19 million and describes it as probably stable or expanding, although northern numbers drop after hard winters.

The state bird since 1948

South Carolina’s first state bird was the mockingbird. In 1948 the General Assembly passed an act naming the Carolina wren instead, a small bird that lives across the whole state and sings in every season.