Eurasian wren
| Eurasian wren | |
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| Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in East Sikkim, India. | |
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| Eurasian wren from Lungthu, Sikkim, India; a resident species from higher Himalayas
Calls recorden in Surrey, England
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Troglodytidae |
| Genus: | Troglodytes (disputed) |
| Subgenus: | T. (Nannus) |
| Species: | T. troglodytes |
| Binomial name | |
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Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Light yellow: Breeding summer visitor Dark yellow: Breeding resident Orange: Non-breeding winter visitor |
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| Synonyms | |
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Nannus troglodytes |
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Nannus troglodytes
The Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is a very small bird, and the only member of the wren family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia and Africa (Maghreb). In Anglophone Europe, it is commonly known simply as the wren. It was once lumped with Troglodytes hiemalis of eastern North America and Troglodytes pacificus of western North America as the winter wren. The Eurasian wren occurs in Europe, a belt of Asia from northern Iran and Afghanistan across to Japan. It is migratory in only the northern parts of its range. It is also highly polygynous, an unusual mating system for passerines.
The scientific name is taken from the Greek word "troglodytes" (from "trogle" a hole, and "dyein" to creep), meaning "cave-dweller", and refers to its habit of disappearing into cavities or crevices whilst hunting arthropods or to roost. The taxonomy of the genus Troglodytes is currently unresolved, as recent molecular studies have suggested that Cistothorus spp. and Thryorchilus spp. are within the clade currently defined by Troglodytes.
It was estimated that Troglodytes pacificus and Troglodytes troglodytes last shared a common ancestor approximately 4.3 million years ago, long before the glacial cycles of the , thought to have promoted speciation in many avian lineages inhabiting the boreal forest of North America.
The 9- to 10.5-cm-long and 6-10 g wren is rufous brown above, greyer beneath, barred with darker brown and grey, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, the legs pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred.
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Wikipedia