Troglodytidae: Wrens

Cozumel Wren. © Tim Avery

The wrens are a large family of small brown birds, most of which are admired more for their disproportionately loud, vigorous, musical songs than for their mousy looks.  With a few exceptions, wrens are creatures of the undergrowth who spend the bulk of their lives within a few feet of the soil restlessly persecuting arthropods and litigating territorial claims.  Although many are furtive in their habits, they are temperamentally feisty and readily berate intruders much larger than themselves with torrents of harsh, scolding invective.

Yucatán Wren.  © Nick Moore

The family is mostly Neotropical and especially diverse in the region from Mexico to northwestern South America.  Its sole Old World representative, historically known to Britons simply as The Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), occurs throughout most of temperate Eurasia.  In contrast, Middle America supports several dozen species of wrens, including many that are highly localized niche-specialists, and some with brightly colored, intricately patterned plumages that bely the family archetype of drabness.

Taxonomy

The species-level taxonomy of the Troglodytidae is unsettled, with many cases of speciation in progress that are difficult to resolve.  Several of the most widespread “species” consist of many similar but diverging forms that may eventually be recognized as multiple species.  Familiar examples include the Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, Winter Wren, and House Wren, each of which has been regarded as a single species and is now at some stage of reevaluation.

As currently understood, the family comprises somewhere in the range of 91 to 139 species, plus two forms or species that recently became extinct.

Salpinctinae: Ground wrens (8 to 11 species)

Odontorchilinae: Tooth-billed wrens (2 species)

Troglodytinae: Typical wrens (81 to 126 species, plus two extinct forms or species)

Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus)

“Northern Rock Wren” (S. o. obsoletus)

“Central American Rock Wren” (S. o. guttatus)

Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus)

Sumichrast’s Wren (Hylorchilus sumichrasti)

Nava’s Wren (Hylorchilus navai)

Nightingale Wren (Microcerculus philomela)

Scaly-breasted Wren (Microcerculus marginatus)

“Whistling Wren” (M. m. luscinia)

“Illingworth’s Wren” (M. m. taeniatus)

“Scaly-breasted Wren” (M. m. marginatus)

Flutist Wren (Microcerculus ustulatus)

Wing-banded Wren (Microcerculus bambla)

Gray-mantled Wren (Odontorchilus branickii)

Tooth-billed Wren (Odontorchilus cinereus)

Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)

Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)

“Carolina Wren” (T. l. ludovicianus)

“White-browed Wren” (T. l. albinucha)

Thrushlike Wren (Campylorhynchus turdinus)

Stripe-backed Wren (Campylorhynchus nuchalis)

Band-backed Wren (Campylorhynchus zonatus)

Gray-barred Wren (Campylorhynchus megalopterus)

White-headed Wren (Campylorhynchus albobrunneus)

Fasciated Wren (Campylorhynchus fasciatus)

Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)

“California Cactus Wren” (C. b. affinis)

“Common Cactus Wren” (C. b. brunneicapillus)

Yucatán Wren (Campylorhynchus yucatanicus)

Giant Wren (Campylorhynchus chiapensis)

Bicolored Wren (Campylorhynchus griseus)

Boucard’s Wren (Campylorhynchus jocosus)

Spotted Wren (Campylorhynchus gularis)

Rufous-backed Wren (Campylorhynchus capistratus)

Sclater’s Wren (Campylorhynchus humilis)

Rufous-naped Wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha)

Pacific Wren (Nannus pacificus)

“Beringian Wren” (N. p. alascensis)

“Pacific Wren” (N. p. pacificus)

Winter Wren (Nannus hiemalis)

Eurasian Wren (Nannus troglodytes)

“Iceland Wren” (N. t. islandicus)

“Faeroe Wren” (N. t. borealis)

“Shetland Wren” (N. t. zetlandicus)

“Hebridean Wren” (N. t. hebridensis)

“Fair Isle Wren” (N. t. fridariensis)

“St. Kilda Wren” (N. t. hirtensis)

“British Wren” (N. t. indigenus)

“Eurasian Wren” (N. t. troglodytes)

Zapata Wren (Ferminia cerverai)

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)

“Pacific Marsh Wren” (C. p. paludicola)

“Western Marsh Wren” (C. p. plesius)

“Eastern Marsh Wren” (C. p. palustris)

“Worthington’s Marsh Wren” (C. p. griseus)

“Mexican Marsh Wren” (C. p. tolucensis)

Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris)

Grass Wren (Cistothorus platensis)

“Grass Wren” (C. p. elegans)

“Roraima Wren” (C. p. alticola)

“Páramo Wren” (C. p. aequatorialis)

“Junín Wren” (C. p. graminicola)

“Puna Wren” (C. p. minimus)

“Tucumán Wren” (C. p. tucumanus)

“Pampas Wren” (C. p. platensis)

“Austral Wren” (C. p. hornensis)

Mérida Wren (Cistothorus meridae)

Apolinar’s Wren (Cistothorus apolinari)

Timberline Wren (Thryorchilus browni)

Tepui Wren (Troglodytes rufulus)

Ochraceous Wren (Troglodytes ochraceus)

Mountain Wren (Troglodytes solstitialis)

Santa Marta Wren (Troglodytes monticola)

Rufous-browed Wren (Troglodytes rufociliatus)

Brown-throated Wren (Troglodytes brunneicollis)

Socorro Wren (Troglodytes sissonii)

Clarión Wren (Troglodytes tanneri)

Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Southern House Wren (Troglodytes musculus)

“Southern House Wren” (T. m. musculus)

“Guadeloupe Wren” (T. m. guadeloupensis) †

“Dominica Wren” (T. m. rufescens)

“Martinique Wren” (T. m. martinicensis) †

“St. Lucia Wren” (T. m. mesoleucus)

“St. Vincent Wren” (T. m. musicus)

“Grenada Wren” (T. m. grenadensis)

Cozumel Wren (Troglodytes beani)

Cobb’s Wren (Troglodytes cobbi)

Black-throated Wren (Pheugopedius atrogularis)

Happy Wren (Pheugopedius felix)

Speckle-breasted Wren (Pheugopedius sclateri)

“Colombian Wren” (P. s. columbianus)

“Speckle-breasted Wren” (P. s. paucimaculatus)

“Marañon Wren” (P. s. sclateri)

Rufous-breasted Wren (Pheugopedius rutilus)

Spot-breasted Wren (Pheugopedius maculipectus)

Sooty-headed Wren (Pheugopedius spadix)

Black-bellied Wren (Pheugopedius fasciatoventris)

Moustached Wren (Pheugopedius genibarbis)

Coraya Wren (Pheugopedius coraya)

Whiskered Wren (Pheugopedius mystacalis)

Plain-tailed Wren (Pheugopedius euophrys)

“Plain-tailed Wren” (P. e. euophrys)

“Gray-browed Wren” (P. e. schulenbergi)

Inca Wren (Pheugopedius eisenmanni)

White-bellied Wren (Uropsila leucogastra)

“White-bellied Wren” (U. l. leucogastra)

“Colima Wren” (U. l. pacifica)

Rufous-and-white Wren (Thryophilus rufalbus)

Antioquia Wren (Thryophilus sernai)

Niceforo’s Wren (Thryophilus nicefori)

Sinaloa Wren (Thryophilus sinaloa)

Banded Wren (Thryophilus pleurostictus)

Chestnut-breasted Wren (Cyphorhinus thoracicus)

“Northern Chestnut-breasted Wren” (C. t. dichrous)

“Southern Chestnut-breasted Wren” (C. t. thoracicus)

Song Wren (Cyphorhinus phaeocephalus)

Musician Wren (Cyphorhinus arada)

“Imeri Musician Wren” (C. a. transfluvialis)

“Gray-eared Musician Wren” (C. a. salvini)

“Guianan Musician Wren” (C. a. arada)

“Gray-flanked Musician Wren” (C. a. griseolateralis)

“Todd’s Musician Wren” (C. a. interpositus)

“Ferruginous Musician Wren” (C. a. modulator)

White-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucosticta)

“Sclater’s Wood-Wren” (H. l. prostheleuca)

“Pittier’s Wood-Wren” (H. l. pittieri)

“Lita Wood-Wren” (H. l. inornata)

“Black-capped Wood-Wren” (H. l. leucosticta)

Bar-winged Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucoptera)

Gray-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucophrys)

“Middle American Wood-Wren” (H. l. mexicana)

“Brown-headed Wood-Wren” (H. l. brunneiceps)

“Bangs’s Wood-Wren” (H. l. bangsi)

“Périja Wood-Wren” (H. l. manastarae)

“Mérida Wood-Wren” (H. l. meridana)

“Venezuelan Wood-Wren” (H. l. venezuelensis)

“Berlepsch’s Wood-Wren” (H. l. hilaris)

“Andean Wood-Wren” (H. l. leucophrys)

Hermit Wood-Wren (Henicorhina anachoreta)

Munchique Wood-Wren (Henicorhina negreti)

Rufous Wren (Cinnycerthia unirufa)

Sharpe’s Wren (Cinnycerthia olivascens)

Peruvian Wren (Cinnycerthia peruana)

Fulvous Wren (Cinnycerthia fulva)

Gray Wren (Cantorchilus griseus)

Stripe-throated Wren (Cantorchilus leucopogon)

Stripe-breasted Wren (Cantorchilus thoracicus)

Cabanis’s Wren (Cantorchilus modestus)

Canebrake Wren (Cantorchilus zeledoni)

Isthmian Wren (Cantorchilus elutus)

Riverside Wren (Cantorchilus semibadius)

Bay Wren (Cantorchilus nigricapillus)

“Bay Wren” (C. n. castaneus)

“Black-capped Wren” (C. n. nigricapillus)

Superciliated Wren (Cantorchilus superciliaris)

Buff-breasted Wren (Cantorchilus leucotis)

Fawn-breasted Wren (Cantorchilus guarayanus)

Long-billed Wren (Cantorchilus longirostris)

References

Brewer, D., and B.K. MacKay. 2001. Wrens, Dippers, and Thrashers. Yale University Press. New Haven.

Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.

Roberson, D. 2010. Bird Families of the World: Wrens, Troglodytidae, http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/wrens.html. (Posted March 21, 2010. Accessed December 1, 2019.)