Troglodytes (bird)

Troglodytes
Northern house wren (Troglodytes aedon) in the Patuxent Research Refuge, Maryland, USA
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Troglodytidae
Genus: Troglodytes
Vieillot, 1809
Type species
Troglodytes aedon
Northern house wren
Vieillot, 1809
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Anorthura
  • Nannus

Troglodytes[a] is a genus of small passerine birds in the wren family. These wrens are around 9–14 centimetres (3.5–5.5 in) long. They are brownish above and somewhat paler below, with strong legs. Their short rounded wings and frequently cocked tail have a dark barred pattern. The flight is direct and buzzing.

Troglodytes wrens are generally found in somewhat cooler habitats than most of their relatives.[1] Most of the species are found in the mountains from Mexico to northern South America. Several species are found in temperate latitudes. The former house wren occurs widely in both tropical and temperate lowlands, but is now split into several species, one each in North and South America, and the others island endemics. In some older texts, the hardy Troglodytes troglodytes (then named northern wren) was treated as having a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, North Africa, and North America, but it was subsequently split into three species, of which the Eurasian wren is the only wren of any genus found outside the New World.[2][1] The Cobb's wren of the Falkland Islands is another species which tolerates harsh conditions well.

Like other wrens, they are elusive as they hunt for small insects and spiders, but they readily reveal their positions through their loud songs.

They are territorial birds, but the tiny Eurasian and winter wrens will roost communally in a cavity in cold weather to help conserve heat.

Systematics and species

The genus Troglodytes was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1809.[3] The type species was subsequently designated as the Troglodytes aedon, the northern house wren.[4]

The closest living relatives of this genus are the timberline wren Thryorchilus browni, and the marsh and grass wrens in the genus Cistothorus.[1][5]

The Eurasian, Pacific, and winter wrens are less closely related to the other members of the genus, and are split as the separate genus Nannus by some authors. These three are basal to a clade that includes Cistothorus, Ferminia, and Thryorchilus, as well as the rest of Troglodytes.[1]

Within the remaining core of the genus, there appear to be two clades, one comprising the house wren group and another containing Central and South American species.[5] The relationships of the rufous-browed and brown-throated wrens 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.[5] The Santa Marta wren is quite enigmatic and little-studied.

A number of the Troglodytes species, such as the Clarion wren, were formerly considered subspecies of the house wren, and the Central and South American forms of the house wren have also now been further split as the southern house wren T. musculus, as have the Caribbean island endemic wrens Cozumel wren T. beani, Kalinago wren T. martinicensis, St. Lucia wren T. mesoleucus, St. Vincent wren T. musicus, and Grenada wren T. grenadensis.[6] The Socorro wren, in older texts placed in Thryomanes (Bewick's wren), proved to be a close relative of the house wren complex, as indicated by "manners, song, plumage, etc.",[7] and by biogeography and mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence analysis.[5]

Species

Southern house wren (Troglodytes musculus)

The genus contains 18 species:[6]

  • Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes
  • Winter wren, Troglodytes hiemalis
  • Pacific wren, Troglodytes pacificus
  • Clarion wren, Troglodytes tanneri
  • Northern house wren, Troglodytes aedon – formerly house wren before split of complex
  • Southern house wren, Troglodytes musculus – split from T. aedon
  • Cozumel wren, Troglodytes beani – split from T. aedon
  • Kalinago wren, Troglodytes martinicensis – split from T. aedon
  • St. Lucia wren, Troglodytes mesoleucus – split from T. aedon
  • St. Vincent wren, Troglodytes musicus – split from T. aedon
  • Grenada wren, Troglodytes grenadensis – split from T. aedon
  • Cobb's wren, Troglodytes cobbi – split from T. aedon
  • Socorro wren, Troglodytes sissonii
  • Rufous-browed wren, Troglodytes rufociliatus
  • Ochraceous wren, Troglodytes ochraceus
  • Mountain wren, Troglodytes solstitialis
  • Santa Marta wren, Troglodytes monticola
  • Tepui wren, Troglodytes rufulus

Notes

  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.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fjeldså, Jon; Christidis, Les; Ericson, Per G. P. (2020). The largest avian radiation: the evolution of perching birds, or the order Passeriformes. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. pp. 241–244. ISBN 978-84-16728-33-6.
  2. ^ Voous, Karel (1977). "List of Recent Holarctic Bird Species". Ibis. 119: 235.
  3. ^ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1809). Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique Septentrionale : contenant un grand nombre d'espèces décrites ou figurées pour la première fois (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Desray. p. 52. Dated 1807 on title page but not published until 1809.
  4. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 415.
  5. ^ a b c d Gómez, Juan E. Martínez; Barber, Brian R.; Peterson, A. Townsend (2005). "Phylogenetic position and generic placement of the Socorro Wren (Thryomanes sissonii)" (PDF). The Auk. 122: 50. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0050:PPAGPO]2.0.CO;2. hdl:1808/16612. S2CID 20879561. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, hyliotas, wrens & gnatcatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  7. ^ Howell, Steven N. G.; Webb, Sophie (1995). A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
  • Wren videos, photos and facts at Arkive.org [1]
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