Birdfinding.info ⇒ The St. Lucia endemic form of House Wren is endangered but appears to be recovering and recolonizing some areas where it had been extirpated. Fairly reliable sites for it include Grand Anse, the Marquis Estate, Anse Chastenet, the Palmiste hills above Soufriere, and the Gros Piton Nature Trail.
“St. Lucia Wren”
Troglodytes aedon mesoleucus
Endemic to St. Lucia, where it persists in relict status in the northeast and southwest. It appears to be recovering from near-extinction, and is occasionally reported from other parts of the island.
In the northeast it occurs mainly in dry forests from the Marquis River Valley south to Ravine La Chaloupe. In the southwest, it occurs in wet forests and gardens from Anse Chastenet and the hills north of Soufriere south to Gros Piton.
The main cause of its decline and near extinction was predation by the mongoose, which was introduced to control rats in the sugar cane plantations and is implicated in the extinction of the “Guadeloupe Wren” and “Martinique Wren” and the disappearance of many other ground-nesting birds from the Lesser Antilles. The impact of the mongoose is believed to have been less severe on St. Lucia because of the presence of a viper that prevented the mongoose from becoming established in certain areas.
Identification
A small, brown-and-white wren. The only wren known from St. Lucia.
The palest of all the House Wren forms, its underparts are all-white except for the vent and undertail coverts, which are tinged rusty.
The upperparts are warm-brown with darker brown barring on the wings and tail. Usually shows a conspicuous pale post-ocular stripe.
The bill is mostly yellowish, somewhat darker on the upper mandible. Eyes and legs are dark.
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Des Barras Road, Dauphin, St. Lucia; November 26, 2015.) © Kyle Kittelberger
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Des Barras Road, Dauphin, St. Lucia; November 26, 2015.) © Kyle Kittelberger
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Grand Anse, St. Lucia; May 11, 2011.) © Carol M. Horner
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Marquis Estate, Dauphin, St. Lucia; January 17, 2015.) © Jim Tietz
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Des Barras Road, Dauphin, St. Lucia; November 26, 2015.) © Kyle Kittelberger
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Des Barras Road, Dauphin, St. Lucia; November 26, 2015.) © Kyle Kittelberger
“St. Lucia Wren,” T. a. mesoleucus. (Grand Anse, St. Lucia; May 11, 2011.) © Carol M. Horner
Notes
Monotypic form, one of ten or so distinct forms of House Wren—or Southern House Wren, when differentiated—some of which may be best regarded as separate species.
References
Brewer, D., and B.K. MacKay. 2001. Wrens, Dippers, and Thrashers. Yale University Press. New Haven.
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed December 8, 2019.)
Gilardi, J.D., and J. Lyndon. 1998. Conservation of the St. Lucia house wren Troglodytes aedon mesoleucus: Distribution, abundance and breeding biology. Journal of the Wildlife Preservation Trust 34:91-102.
Kroodsma, D., D. Brewer, and G.M. Kirwan. 2019. House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/58151. (Accessed December 8, 2019.)
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.