The name troglodytes means "hole dweller", and is a reference to the bird's tendency to disappear into crevices when hunting insects or to seek shelter.

The northern house wren was formally described in 1809 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the current binomial name Troglodytes aedon.

There is marked geographical variation in the song, though somewhat more gradual than in the bird's outward appearance that can strikingly differ, e.g., on neighboring islands in the Caribbean.

[16] The northern house wren is thought to achieve the highest density in floodplain forests in the western great plains where it uses woodpecker holes as nesting sites.

Most return to the breeding grounds in late April to May, and leave for winter quarters again around September to early October.

These include: feather, hair, wool, spider cocoons, strips of bark, rootlets, moss, and trash.

Nest cavities are usually a few meters above ground at most,[21][22] but occasionally on cliffs as high up as 15 m (49 ft) and more at least in southern populations[verification needed]; they may be natural or man-made, often using bird houses.

Females that sang more songs to conspecifics that were simulated by playback lost fewer eggs to ovicide by other wrens.

[24] Depending on the exact population, the northern house wrens' clutch is usually between two and eight red-blotched cream-white eggs,[25] weighing about 1.4 g (0.05 oz) each and measuring c.17 and 13.4 mm (0.67 and 0.53 in) at the widest points.

[27] Known predators of house wrens at the nest include cats, rats, opossums, woodpeckers, foxes, raccoons, squirrels, snakes and owls.

[28] Migrant populations are nesting within 6 weeks of returning from winter quarters, leaving theoretically time for a second brood.

[1] John James Audubon illustrates the house wren in Birds of America (published, London 1827–38) as Plate 83.