Winter Wren
Troglodytes hiemalis
Tiny, short-tailed, plain-brown wren with a huge voice. Subtly patterned, with indistinct pale eyebrow and diffuse dark barring on flanks and wings. Constantly keeps tail cocked at an angle. Found in a variety of forested habitats, but always prefers wetter areas with thick tangles, often around treefalls and moss. Darker, smaller, and shorter-tailed than House Wren. Incredibly beautiful song is a long series of musical whistles and trills; an unmistakable and common sound in northern forests. Call is a dry, low "chimp" remarkably similar to Song Sparrow.
Identification
Small tail is often cocked above its back, and short neck gives the appearance of a small brown ball. Rufous brown above, grayer below, barred with darker brown and gray, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, the legs pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred. Most are identifiable by the pale "eyebrows" over their eyes.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
The winter wren was described and illustrated in 1808 by the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. He was uncertain as to whether the wren should be considered as a separate species or as a subspecies of the Eurasian wren. When Louis Pierre Vieillot, a French ornithologist, described the winter wren in 1819 he considered it as a separate species and coined the current binomial name Troglodytes hiemalis. The specific epithet is Latin and means "of winter". The type locality was restricted to Nova Scotia by Harry C. Oberholser in 1902.<p>The winter wren was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) and the Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus). The Eurasian wren was split from the two North American species based on a study of mitochondrial DNA published in 2007. A study published in 2008 of the songs and genetics of individuals in an overlap zone between Troglodytes hiemalis and Troglodytes pacificus found strong evidence of reproductive isolation between the two. It was suggested that the pacificus subspecies be promoted to the species level designation of Troglodytes pacificus with the common name of "Pacific wren". By applying a molecular clock to the amount of mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence between the two, 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 Pleistocene, which are thought to have promoted speciation in many avian systems inhabiting the boreal forest of North America.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Troglodytes hiemalis
- Authority
- Vieillot, 1819
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Troglodytes
Range and habitat
The winter wren nests mostly in coniferous forests, especially those of spruce and fir, where it is often identified by its long and exuberant song. Although it is an insectivore, it can remain in moderately cold and even snowy climates by foraging for insects on substrates such as bark and fallen logs.<p>Its movements as it creeps or climbs are incessant rather than rapid; its short flights swift and direct but not sustained, its tiny round wings whirring as it flies from bush to bush.<p>At night, usually in winter, it often roosts, true to its scientific name, in dark retreats, snug holes and even old nests. In hard weather it may do so in parties, either consisting of the family or of many individuals gathered together for warmth.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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