Troglodytes (wren)

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Troglodytes
House Wren, T. aedon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae Genus: Troglodytes Vieillot, 1809
Species
See text.

Troglodytes^[1] is a genus of small passerine birds in the wren family. These wrens are around 11-12 cm long. They are typically streaked brown above and somewhat paler below, with short rounded wings, strong legs and a cocked tail. The flight is direct and buzzing.

Troglodytes wrens are mostly found in somewhat cooler habitats than most of their relatives, being birds of temperate latitudes and tropical highlands, apart from the widely distributed lowland House Wren. The hardy Winter Wren has a wide distribution in North America, Europe and Asia and is the only wren of any genus which occurs outside the New World. The Cobb's Wren of the Falkland Islands is another species which tolerates harsh conditions well.

The other species are found in the mountains of the tropics from Mexico to northern South America.

Like other wrens, this group have skulking lifestyles as they hunt for small insects and spiders but 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.

[edit] Species and systematics

• House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
  • Southern House Wren, Troglodytes (aedon) musculus
  • Cozumel Wren, Troglodytes (aedon) beani
• Clarion Island Wren, Troglodytes tanneri
• Socorro Wren, Troglodytes sissonii
• Cobb's Wren, Troglodytes cobbi
• Brown-throated Wren, Troglodytes brunneicollis
• Rufous-browed Wren, Troglodytes rufociliatus
• Tepui Wren, Troglodytes rufulus
• Mountain Wren, Troglodytes solstitialis
• Ochraceous Wren, Troglodytes ochraceus
• Santa Marta Wren, Troglodytes monticola
• Winter Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes

A number of these species, such as the Clarion Island Wren, were formerly considered subspecies of the House Wren, and it has been argued that the tropical forms of the House Wren should be further split as the Southern House Wren, Troglodytes musculus^{[citation needed]}. The Socorro Wren, formerly placed into Thryomanes (Bewick's Wren), is actually a close relative of the House Wren complex, as indicated by biogeography and mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence analysis (Martínez Gómez et al. 2005).

The molecular data of Martínez Gómez et al. (2005) could not resolve the relationships of the species to satisfaction, however. There appear to be 2 clades, one comprising of the house wren group and another containing Central and South American species. The relationships of the Rufous-browed and Brown-throated Wren]s are indeterminable with the present molecular data; they appear fairly basal and the former might be closer to the house wren group than the latter. The Santa Marta Wren is quite enigmatic and little-studied.

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 (Martínez Gómez et al. 2005). The Winter Wren is less closely related to the other members of the genus, and is occasionally split as the monotypic genus Nannus^{[citation needed]}. It might actually be closely related to Cistothorus (Martínez Gómez et al. 2005), but again, the molecular data is insufficient to properly resolve this issue.

[edit] References

• ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2

• Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5

• Martínez Gómez, Juan E.; Barber, Bruian R. & Peterson, A. Townsend (2005): Phylogenetic position and generic placement of the Socorro Wren (Thryomanes sissonii). Auk 122(1): 50–56. [English with Spanish abstract] DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0050:PPAGPO]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext

• National Geographic Society (2002): Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic, Washington DC. ISBN 0-792-26877-6

• Rice, Peterson and Escalona-Segura Phylogenetic patterns in montane Troglodytes wrens

• Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4

• Svensson, Lars; Zetterström, Dan; Mullarney, Killian & Grant, P. J. (1999): Collins bird guide. Harper & Collins, London. ISBN 0-00-219728-6

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Etymology: Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτες "cave-dwellers" (compare troglodyte), from trogle (τρώγλη) "hole" + dyein (δυειν) "to enter". In reference to the tendency of these wrens to enter small crevices as they search for food.