Classification
Order — Passeriformes.
Family — Troglodytidae.
Genus — Troglodytes.
Species — Troglodytes troglodytes.
Habitat
Eurasian Wren lives in various habitats such as woodlands, gardens, farmlands, rocky islets, cliffs on islands.
Outward appearance
Length: 9-10 cm.
Wingspan: 13-17 cm.
Weight: 8-13 g.
Wrens are stocky, restless birds.
Plumage is rich brown.
Tail is short and cocked, flicks repeatedly.
Upperparts and flanks have dark barring.
Head and nape are darker than upperparts, more uniform, almost without streaks.
Eyes are dark brown.
Pale eyebrow (supercilium) is prominent.
Underparts are paler with grey barring.
Bill is brownish. Rrelatively long, slender and slightly down curved.
Legs are flesh-brown.
Juveniles look similar to adults but the eyebrow may not be as prominent until they get their adult plumage.
In flight, its wing beats are rapid and it usually flies short distances and in a straight line.
Feeding
Wrens eat spiders and insects which they find while hopping and dashing along the ground and probing in crevices with their long thin bill. Their scientific name, Troglodytes, means "cave dweller" in reference to this behaviour.
When they do venture out into the open they dart from one place to another.
They occasionally take seed or cheese from the ground feeder table.
Features
One of the most distinctive features of the wren is its song, which is given almost year-round by the male and consists of a complex, continuous stream of warbles and trills. This song is astonishingly loud for such a small bird - per unit weight, the winter wren sings at ten times the power of a crowing rooster. The wren also calls with various sharp, dry notes, and may give a harsh ‘churr’ in alarm.
Eurasian Wren has a whirring direct and low flight. It rapidly dives back into cover. It also may perform weak fluttering flights of short duration.
Breeding
The male wren builds several nests, up to 6 or 7. These are called "cock nests" but are never lined until the female chooses one to use.
The normal round nest of grass, moss, lichens or leaves is tucked into a hole in a wall, tree trunk, crack in a rock or corner of a building, but it is often built in bushes, overhanging boughs or the litter which accumulates in branches washed by floods.
Five to eight white or slightly speckled eggs are laid in April, and second broods are reared. The eggs of the St. Kilda wren are marginally larger and often more boldly spotted; six is the usual number.
Wrens are highly polygamous, that is to say a male can have, at any one time, more than one female with an active nest on his territory. An active nest is one in which there are eggs or nestlings. A male has been recorded with four females breeding on his territory. Bigamy and trigamy are the most common forms of polygamy.
Diseases
Salmonella, Trichomoniasis, Aspergillosis, Avian pox, Mites and Lice, Lyme Disease.
