"Paying homage to the WREN radio station of Topeka, the giant Wren statue is now more of a local tourist attraction," the Road Trippers says.

"Early photos of WREN show real Wrens fluttering about, so when the station closed and the property changed hands people came to action to make sure the giant wren had a home. It's home isn't impressive, but it's still a great photo op."

"It's not just a big wren, it's a really big little bird. Formerly stood atop the broadcast studios of radio station WREN," the Roadside America says.

"It was constructed of wire mesh and concrete by an unknown artist sometime during the 1930s when the station was then located in Lawrence, Kansas. Former Governor and 1936 Presidential candidate Alf Landon purchased the station in 1952.

"It has become a local landmark and was purchased by The group Historic Topeka after initially having been sold to a developer and scheduled to be moved to Branson, Missouri. It was restored by Buck Thomas, who also repainted it."

"Which came first, the wren or the egg? In Kansas, the wren came first. By 1947, radio station WREN had installed the World’s Largest Wren at its Tonganoxie transmitter," the Roxie on the Road says..

"The station moved to Topeka that year, bringing the giant bird with it. When the station failed in 1987, the City of Topeka placed the bird in Huntoon Park. The current WREN is a digital radio station playing Golden Oldies.:

"Created originally for WREN radio, the Wren now serves as a perky median decoration along SW Topeka Boulevard, overlooking a mildly confusing intersection. Nestled in a concrete-encircled flower bed, he's within climbing distance but doesn't appear to be very badly abused by would-be climbers," the World's Largest Things says.

"A 1942 photo of the old WREN building in Lawrence KS (that's where the station started) shows two baby wrens flanking the doors. The big Wren was in front of the Tonganoxie transmitter. WREN first began as 9yN at the University of Kansas in 1919, later becoming KFKU, then broadcasting as WREN in 1926. The first broadcast was from the back room of the bowersock Mills and Power Company, with a microphone set on a stack of empty flour sacks. The station's first function was to advertise Jenny Wren Flour. WREN moved to Topeka in 1947, and with it came the World's Largest Wren. It was secure in a little mini-park at the station during the reign of owner Alf Landon (owner from 1952 - 1981).

"In 1985, the station was sold once again, with devastating effects. Non-payment of income and Social Security taxes, overdue news service contracts, leins and lawsuits caused the station to go off the air in 1987. The W.L. Wren sat atop its perch, wondiring what would become of it. When a Christian radio station purchased the building in 1991, they decided to sell off the bird as a fundraiser. Community donations made up the $1500 purchase price, with Historic Topeka Inc. buying and storing the Wren. Eventually, it was installed in its own protected perch, surrounded by a bed of color, back in the heart of Topeka."

"Topeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 126,587. The Topeka metropolitan statistical area, which includes Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, and Wabaunsee Counties, had a population of 233,870 in the 2010 census.

"The name "Topeka" is a Kansa-Osage word that means "place where we dig potatoes", or "a good place to dig potatoes". As a placename, Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the Kansas River. Topeka's founders chose the name in 1855 because it "was novel, of Indian origin, and euphonious of sound." Mixed-blood Kansa Native American, Joseph James, called Jojim, is credited with suggesting Topeka's name. The city, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by Eastern antislavery men immediately after the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Bill. In 1857, Topeka was chartered as a city." (Wikipedia)

"Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly known simply as the "wren", as it is the originator of the name. The name wren has been applied to other, unrelated birds, particularly the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) and the Australian wrens (Maluridae).

"Most wrens are visually inconspicuous though they have loud and often complex songs. Exceptions include the relatively large members of the genus Campylorhynchus, which can be quite bold in their behaviour. Wrens have short wings that are barred in most species, and they often hold their tails upright. Wrens are primarily insectivorous, eating insects, spiders and other small invertebrates, but many species also eat vegetable matter and some eat small frogs and lizards." (Wikipedia)