Bewick's wren

In 1827, the American ornithologist John James Audubon included an illustration of Bewick's wren under the binomial name Troglodytes bewickii in his The Birds of America. In the companion Ornithological Biography, published four years later, Audubon explained that he had shot the specimen near St. Francisville, Louisiana in 1821 and had chosen the specific epithet bewickii in honour of his friend the engraver Thomas Bewick. Bewick's wren is now the only species placed in the genus Thryomanes that was introduced by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1862. The Socorro wren was formerly also placed in Thryomanes, but is now known to be a close relative of the house wren complex, as indicated by biogeography and mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence analysis, whereas Thryomanes seems not too distant from the Carolina wren. • T. b. calophonus Oberholser, 1898 – southwest Canada and northwest USA • T. b. drymoecus Oberholser, 1898 – west Canada. Includes T. b. atrestus. • T. b. marinensis Grinnell, 1910 – coastal northwest California • T. b. spilurus (Vigors, 1839) – coastal central California • † T. b. leucophrys (Anthony, 1895) – Extinct, formerly San Clemente Island, California • T. b. charienturus Oberholser, 1898 – southern California and northwest Baja California • T. b. cerroensis (Anthony, 1897) – west central Baja California • T. b. magdalenensis Huey, 1942 – southwest Baja California • † T. b. brevicauda Ridgway, 1876 – Extinct, formerly Guadalupe Island, Mexico • T. b. eremophilus Oberholser, 1898 – interior southwest USA to central Mexico • T. b. cryptus Oberholser, 1898 – west Kansas, west Oklahoma and central, east Texas and northeast Mexico • T. b. pulichi (Phillips, AR, 1986) – east Kansas and Oklahoma • T. b. sadai (Phillips, AR, 1986) – south Texas (southern USA) to central Tamaulipas (northeast Mexico) • T. b. mexicanus (Deppe, 1830) – central and south Mexico. Includes T. b. murinus. • T. b. bewickii (Audubon, 1827) – Nominate subspecies, central and east central USA. Includes T. b. altus. == Description ==

Bewick's wren has an average length of an average weight of , and a wingspan of . Its plumage is brown on top and light grey underneath, with a white stripe above each eye. Its beak is long, slender, and slightly curved. Its most distinctive feature is its long tail with black bars and white corners. It moves its tail around frequently, making this feature even more obvious for observers. Juveniles look similar to adults, with only a few key differences. Their beaks are usually shorter and stockier. In addition, their underbelly might feature some faint speckling. A male wren learns its song from neighboring males, so its song will be different from its father's. Geographic variation Geographic differences have been observed in the appearance of Bewick's wren. Eastern populations, prior to their decline, were described as being more colorful, such as having a reddish tint to its brown feathers. Pacific populations are described as being darker in appearance, while populations in the Southwest are described as having a grayer plumage. Geographic differences have also been noted in the song of Bewick's wrens. Each regional population of Bewick's wrens have distinctive vocalizations, in particular their call notes. Pacific populations sing notably more complicated songs than Southwestern populations. Eastern populations were also noted to be excellent singers. == Distribution and habitat ==

Bewick's wren once had a range that extended throughout much of the United States and Mexico and parts of Canada. It used to be fairly common in the Midwest and in the Appalachian Mountains, but it is now extremely rare east of the Mississippi River. It is still found along the Pacific Coast from Baja California to British Columbia, in Mexico, and in a significant portion of the Southwest, including Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Western populations do not tend to migrate. Eastern populations, prior to their decline, used to migrate from its northern range to the Gulf Coast. They are more common than house wrens in drier habitats, such as those found in the Southwest. == Behavior ==

Feeding Bewick's wrens are insect eaters. They glean insects and insect eggs from vegetation, including the trunks of trees. They typically do not feed on vegetation higher than 3 meters, but they will forage on the ground. Like many insect-eating birds, Bewick's wren widens its diet to include seeds in the winter. Breeding Courtship begins with the male singing from its perch. It will occasionally pause its song in order to chase its competitors. Bewick's wrens form monogamous pairs that will then forage together. The male wren begins building the nest in a cavity or birdhouse, with the female joining in later. The nest is constructed from twigs and other plant materials and is often lined with feathers. The nest is cup-shaped and located in a nook or cavity of some kind. It lays 5–7 eggs, which are white with brown spots. Bewick's wren produces two broods in a season. Pairs are more or less monogamous when it comes to breeding, but go solitary throughout the winter. == Status and conservation ==

In 2016, Bewick's wren was listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List of threatened species due to the size of its range and estimates of its population size. In 2014, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative placed the eastern Bewick's wren on its watch list. Several theories have been proposed to explain its decline in its eastern range, including pesticide use and competition from other bird species. == References ==