Like other wrens, they are elusive as they hunt for small insects and spiders, but they readily reveal their positions through their loud songs.

These are territorial birds, but the tiny winter wren will roost communally in a cavity in cold weather to help conserve heat.

[1] The type species was subsequently designated as the Troglodytes aedon, the northern house wren.

[2] The closest living relatives of this genus are possibly the timberline wren and the Cistothorus species, rather than the Henicorhina wood-wrens as is sometimes proposed.

There appear to be two clades, one comprising the house wren group and another containing Central and South American species.