Pacific Wren
Learn to identify the Pacific Wren by ear. Master the "teakettle-teakettle, silver-bubbles-brrr!" phrase and tell it apart from similar species.
What the Pacific Wren sounds like
A long, dazzling burst of high whistles, trills, and tinkling notes. It tumbles out fast and bright, often from a stump or log in deep woods.
How to tell it apart
Where you'll hear it
Pacific Wrens live year-round across much of the Pacific Northwest, with some birds shifting lower or closer to the coast in winter. They are replaced farther east by the closely related Winter Wren.
Look for it in damp conifer forests, shady ravines, stream edges, and thickets choked with ferns, logs, and roots. It loves deep, messy cover and usually keeps low to the ground.
They sing most boldly in spring and early summer, when males seem to burst with sound from stumps and fallen logs. In winter they turn quieter and sneakier, slipping through dark understory cover.
How to recognize it by sight
Tiny, dark, and endlessly busy, the Pacific Wren zips through mossy tangles like a wind-up toy. Its tail stays cocked, and its song pours out in a sparkling rush of whistles, trills, and bubbling notes that sounds far too big for such a small bird.