House wren

The house wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a very small bird of the wren family, Troglodytidae. It occurs from Canada to southernmost South America, and is thus the most widely distributed native bird in the Americas. It occurs in most suburban areas in its range and it is the single most common wren. Its taxonomy is highly complex and some subspecies groups are often considered separate species. The name troglodytes means "hole dweller", and is a reference to the bird's tendency to disappear into crevices when hunting insects or to seek shelter. The house wren was formally described in 1809 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot under the current binomial name Troglodytes aedon. The specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek aēdōn meaning "nightingale". The type locality was designated as New York City by Harry Oberholser in 1934. There are 32 recognised subspecies. These are sometimes divided into three distinct groups and one or several distinct island-endemic subspecies. Some or all of these are sometimes considered as distinct species. Northern house wren, Troglodytes (aedon) aedon group – Canada to southern United States Southern house wren, Troglodytes (aedon) musculus group – southern Mexico, Central and South America Brown-throated wren, Troglodytes (aedon) brunneicollis group – southern United States and central ranges of Mexico Cozumel wren, Troglodytes (aedon) beani – Cozumel Island off the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico It has also been suggested that the taxa from the Lesser Antilles represent one or more separate species, but there is less agreement as to their subdivision, because as far as they have been studied to date, there is little clear biogeographical structure among these populations. Three additional taxa from more oceanic islands have traditionally been included in the house wren, but are now considered as separate species: Cobb's wren, Troglodytes cobbi – Falkland Islands (South Atlantic) Socorro wren, Troglodytes sissonii – Socorro, Revillagigedo Islands Clarión wren, Troglodytes tanneri – Clarion, Revillagigedo Islands (East Pacific) Adult house wrens are about long, with a wingspan and weigh about .