{"id":39194,"date":"2016-05-06T06:21:13","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T12:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39194"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:10:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T16:10:28","slug":"migrating-house-wren-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/06\/migrating-house-wren-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrating Northern House Wren at Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HouseNorthern House Wren at Bear River – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I am very used to seeing and hearing Marsh Wrens at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> because they are there more or less all year long and they delight me with their songs and somewhat pugnacious behaviors.<\/p>\n

Last August I was a bit surprised to see a young Northern House Wren at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge from the auto tour loop around the marshes there. I had been photographing Marsh Wrens when this House Wren popped up into my view.<\/p>\n

I suspect that this Northern House Wren was probably just migrating through the Great Basin hub of the Pacific flyway on its way to its wintering grounds because the habitat at the refuge isn’t what Northern House Wrens usually prefer.<\/p>\n

Northern House Wrens are a very common bird in the Western Hemisphere and are secondary cavity nesters that use old woodpecker or sapsucker nesting cavities to raise their young and they will also nest in man made nest boxes.<\/p>\n

This wren didn’t sing<\/span><\/a> but I do enjoy hearing their calls and songs while I photograph them in other locations.<\/p>\n

I hope to find more Northern House Wrens to photograph and observe this year and their calls can help me locate them quite easily. Hearing their calls and then seeing them is how I found a wonderful aspen that had several nesting cavities<\/span><\/a> that other species of birds also used to raise their young in Clark County, Idaho. I know that birders often use their ears to locate birds and so does this bird photographer.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my House Wren photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last August I was a bit surprised to see a Northern House Wren at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge from the auto tour loop around the marshes there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,2586,26],"tags":[2304,4067,4094,3946,530,2587,4104,5137,4894,5050,2585,4095,5802,3822,4193],"class_list":["post-39194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-house-wrens","category-utah","tag-calls","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-migrating","tag-migration","tag-house-wren","tag-perched","tag-rush","tag-secondary-cavity-nesters","tag-songs","tag-troglodytes-aedon","tag-wetlands","tag-wren","tag-wrens","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/house-wren-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1787.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aca","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/26\/autumn-marsh-wrens-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":39194,"position":0},"title":"Autumn Marsh Wrens In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Marsh Wrens are year round residents here in northern Utah and this week I've photographed them in the marshes of both Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marsh Wren peeking out from the marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-8522.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95830,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/03\/october-marsh-wren\/","url_meta":{"origin":39194,"position":1},"title":"October Marsh Wren","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago I found a Marsh Wren perched on a Cocklebur on a bright October morning in the wetlands of the refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"October Marsh Wren perched on a Cocklebur, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsh-wren-autumn-cocklebur-mia-mcpherson-0907.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":83456,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/05\/listening-to-a-marsh-wren-serenade\/","url_meta":{"origin":39194,"position":2},"title":"Listening To A Marsh Wren Serenade","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent a few minutes with a singing Marsh Wren that I spotted in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week. The tiny wren wasn't close so pointing him out was no easy task.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marsh Wren singing on a spring morning, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-singing-in-spring-mia-mcpherson-1509.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-singing-in-spring-mia-mcpherson-1509.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/marsh-wren-singing-in-spring-mia-mcpherson-1509.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today, I spotted a Marsh Wren in the marsh of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and stopped to take photos of the wren singing out in the open.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marsh Wren singing on the last day of March, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marsh-wren-last-day-of-march-mia-mcpherson-1546.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/marsh-wren-last-day-of-march-mia-mcpherson-1546.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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