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Eurasian Wren

Eurasian Wren

Troglodytes troglodytes

Identify the Eurasian Wren by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Wren is a tiny, round, russet-brown songbird with a cocked tail and a pale supercilium. It is the only wren of the Old World, ranging from Europe and North Africa across Asia to Japan. It lives low in dense cover and has a remarkably loud, bubbling song for its size. Northern birds migrate, while western and southern ones are resident. Males are often polygynous.

Did you know?

  • Its scientific name means “cave-dweller”.
  • Males build several nests, and the female chooses which one to use.

Voice

Song
Call
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

A very small songbird (about 9–11 cm) with a short tail often held upright. The back is rufous-brown, the underparts brownish-pale with fine dark barring, and a pale supercilium shows. The bill is fairly long, thin and slightly down-curved. The sexes and ages look alike. The song is very loud for its size, consisting of phrases and trills.

Family

Troglodytidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

brown, black, white, grey

About the habitat

Tangled undergrowth in forests, lush stream banks, root plates, brush piles and fallen logs; also hedges, gardens, stone walls and shrubby islands.

Diet

Mainly insects, spiders, worms and other small invertebrates gleaned from leaf litter, mossy logs, roots and crevices near the ground.

Behaviour

Restless and secretive, it forages close to the ground in dense cover with its short tail cocked, slipping into holes and crevices. Males sing loudly year-round and build several domed nests of moss; the female chooses one, lines it and incubates. In cold winters many wrens may huddle together in a single roost.

Sources

Photo: Alpsdake, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Troglodytes troglodytes fumigatus.JPG

Sound: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, XC461185, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/461185

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC776639, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/776639

Sound: Benoît Van Hecke, XC554784, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/554784

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_wren

See also