The Carolina wren is one of our favorite birds.  It is a true bird of the South and ranges throughout the entire state.  For years, however, it has been expanding its range northward into the Midwest, to just south of Ontario, Canada and into New England. Since 90+percentage of its diet is insects and other invertebrates, finding enough to eat during the winter can be problematic since the bird eats roughly 0.49 ounces of food daily.  Those wrens that live near feeders can benefit from some of the food provided to wild birds at feeders.

       In my backyard, Carolina wrens most often visit my suet feeder; another food they consume are raw peanuts.  It is hard to believe that a single peanut supplies enough food to supply one-third of the daily energy needs of a hardy Carolina wren trying to survive along the northern edge of its range.

       That being the case, adding raw peanuts to the menu of various foods at your backyard bird café, can help Carolina wrens when the temperature drops into the teens and twenties.

       I guess you could say a peanut a day helps keep the cold away.