From Opus

Photo by Muskrat
Location: Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA

Photo by Alan Henry
Cobb's Wren of the Falkland Islands

Troglodytes aedon

Includes Cobb's Wren

[edit] Identification

4 1/2 -5 1/4" (11-13 cm).

• Tiny bird
• Short tail, often held cocked over the back
• Dusky brown above
• Paler below, with no distinctive markings

[edit] Distribution

As discussed below, there are four main groups within house wren, which may become full species.

• Northern House Wren: breeds in much of the United States and southern parts of Canada; members of this groups are at least partly migratory.
• Brown-throated Wren: mainly a Mexican grouping, but also found in southern Arizona.
• Southern House Wren: much of Central and South America.
• Antillean House Wren: several islands in the Lesser Antilles (possibly even with one species per island).
• Cobb's Wren: several rat and cat free islands of the Falkland Islands.

[edit] Taxonomy

Clements¹ accepts 32 subspecies of House Wren. There has been several rumblings about splitting this species into several species, with the approximate divisions given in the secion of "Distribution" above. The taxonomic status of House Wren have been discussed elsewhere in Birdforum² and there are indications that the northern group may need to be split into an eastern and western form.

One split that seemed to have been accepted by Clements was Cobb's Wren of the Falkland Islands. However, with the new Clements update this Wren has been lumped again into House Wren. This thread discusses a recent (March 2009) proposal to split Cobb's Wren.

[edit] Habitat

Residential areas, city parks, farmlands, and woodland edges.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

The nest is cup shaped, made of sticks, grass and lined with feathers. 5-8 white, brown-speckled eggs are laid.

[edit] Vocalisation

Song A gurgling, bubbling, exuberant song, first rising, then falling

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Second half of this thread was mostly about House Wren taxonomy

[edit] External Links

This video link searches for House Wren using the Chilean local name of Chercán (Troglodytes aedon chilensis)