From Opus

Photo by Steve Round
Wirral, Cheshire, England, July 2004

Troglodytes troglodytes

[edit] Identification

Length is 9-10 cm (3.5 - 4 inches)

• Mostly brown, in most populations with a reddish tint
• Small tail (often cocked)
• Pale buff underside (some populations almost as dark as the back)
• Prominent pale supercilium
• Bill slightly down curved

Subspecies troglodytes
Photo by gaviao-real
Netherlands, June 2009

Island populations tends to be larger birds than continental populations. For example in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, wings, legs, and bill are longer than in the UK.

[edit] Distribution

In Europe from Iceland to central Scandinavia and south to the Mediterranean.
In Asia, it is widely distributed from north to south in the eastern end, but in central Asia, there is a gap separating those populations from western Asian and European populations.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

Subspecies cypriotes
Photo by lior kislev
Rosh Pina wadi, Galil, Israel, February 2009

Many subspecies have been described^[4]:

• T. t. islandicus: Iceland
• T. t. borealis: Faeroe Islands (north Atlantic Ocean)
• T. t. zetlandicus: Shetland Islands (Scotland)
• T. t. hebridensis: Outer Hebrides Islands (Scotland)
• T. t. fridariensis: Fair Isle (Scotland)
• T. t. hirtensis: St Kilda Islands (Scotland)
• T. t. indigenus: Ireland, Inner Hebrides, Orkneys, Scotland and England
• T. t. troglodytes: Continental Europe and Asia Minor
• T. t. kabylorum: Balearic Islands, southern Spain and north-western Africa (Morocco to Tunisia)
• T. t. koenigi: Corsica and Sardinia
• T. t.s cypriotes: Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus and Near East
• T. t. hyrcanus: Crimean Peninsula to Caucasus Mountains, northern Iraq and Iran
• T. t. juniperi: North-western Libya
• T. t. tianschanicus: North-eastern Iran and southern Transcaspia to northern Afghanistan and Turkestan
• T. t. pallescens: Kamchatka Peninsula and Komandorskiye Islands

Subspecies taivanus
Photo by Mark Bruce
Anmashan, Taichung County, Taiwan, December 2008
A high alpine species found in forest undergrowth between 2000m-3400m

• T. t. kurilensis: Northern Kuril Islands (Shasukotan and Ushichi)
• T. t. fumigatus: Southern Kuril Islands and Japan
• T. t. mosukei: Izu Islands and Daito Islands
• T. t. ogawae: Southern Japanese Archipelago (Tanegashima and Yakushima)
• T. t. taivanus: Taiwan
• T. t. dauricus: Eastern Siberia to Sakhalin, Manchuria and Korea
• T. t. idius: Northern China (south Hebei to Shandong)
• T. t. szetschuanus: South-western China (southern Shaanxi and Sichuan east to Hupei)
• T. t. talifuensis: Western China (southern Sichuan to western Yunnan) and north-eastern Burma
• T. t. subpallidus: Himalayas of Afghanistan
• T. t. neglectus: Western Himalayas (Gilgit to western Nepal)
• T. t. nipalensis: Himalayas of Nepal to north-eastern Assam and southern Tibet
• T. t. magrathi: Mountains on borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan
  

Subspecies hirtensis, St Kilda Wren
Heavier barring, greyer (less rufus) plumage and stockier body than mainland species
Photo by Bert Swan
Hirta, St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Seen on 430 metre cliff

Was formerly considered conspecific with Winter Wren and Pacific Wren.

Rice et al in 1999 proposed placing this species in its own genus, Nannus². Later molecular studies support this classification, because the closest relative of Winter Wren are not other members of the genus Troglodytes but the Marsh and Sedge Wrens³.

[edit] Habitat

Can be found in almost any habitat, low down in undergrowth from gardens and woodland to clifftops.

[edit] Behaviour

Tends to keep low when flying.

[edit] Diet

Forages under dense cover for small insects and spiders

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a ball of grass, leaves or other vegetation and may be placed in a bank hole, in thick vegetation or tucked under overhang. The clutch consists of 5-8 white eggs with brownish-red speckles. They are incubated for about 2 weeks and fledge around 16 or 17 days later.

Subspecies zetlandicus
Photo by jtwood
Shetland, 2012

There are usually 2 broods in the season which runs from April to August.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: Hard, dry chit or chiti
Song: Loud (especially given its size) warbling. Can last up to ten seconds.

[edit] References

1. Toews DP, Irwin DE 2008. Mol Ecol. Jun;17(11):2691-705
2. Rice et al 1999 Condor 101:446-451
3. Thread in Birdforum Taxonomy forum and references therein.
4. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
5. Bird Watching Magazine
6. 51st supplement to the AOU checklist of North American birds

• List of references

[edit] External Links