Eurasian Wren
Encyclopedia
The Eurasian Wren is a very small bird
, and the only member of the wren
family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia
. In Anglophone Europe
it is commonly known simply as the Wren. It was once lumped with Troglodytes hiemalis of eastern North America
and Troglodytes pacificus of western North America as the Winter Wren.
It is also highly polygynous, an unusual mating system for passerine
s.
It occurs in Europe, a belt of Asia
from northern Iran
and Afghanistan
across to Japan
. It is only migratory
in the northern parts of its range.
The scientific name is taken from the Greek
word "troglodytes" (from "trogle" a hole, and "dyein" to creep), meaning "cave-dweller", and refers to its habit of disappearing into cavities or crevices whilst hunting arthropod
s or to roost. The taxonomy
of the genus Troglodytes is currently unresolved, as recent molecular studies have suggested that Cistothorus
spp. and Thryorchilus spp. are within the clade
currently defined by Troglodytes.
The 9–10.5 cm long Wren is rufous brown above, greyer beneath, barred with darker brown and grey, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, the legs pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred.
The plumage
is subject to considerable variation, and where populations have been isolated, the variation has become fixed in one minor form or another. There are around 27 subspecies of this taxonomically complex bird. The disputed subspecies orii, the Daito Winter Wren
, became extinct around 1940 – if it is indeed a valid taxon and not merely based on an anomaly.
Thus in Scotland
, in addition to the typical bird, T. t. indigenus, there are three distinct insular subspecies; one, T. t. hirtensis, is confined to the island of St Kilda
, another, T. t. zetlandicus to Shetland
, and the third T. t. fridariensis to Fair Isle
. The St Kilda Wren
is greyer above, whiter beneath, and with more abundant bars on the back; the Shetland Wren
and Fair Isle Wren
are darker.
(Thryorchilus browni) and the four species within the genus Cistothorus
, are within the clade
defined by all of the Troglodytes. To make Troglodytes monophyletic, Rice et al. (1999) proposed that winter wrens could be placed in their own genus, Nannus. Alternatively, as suggested by Gómez et al. (2005), Troglodytes could be made more inclusive by assigning the Troglodytes genus to the current Thryorchilus and Cistothorus genera.
By studying the songs and genetics of individuals in an overlap zone between Troglodytes hiemalis and Troglodytes pacificus, Toews and Irwin (2008) found strong evidence of reproductive isolation
between the two. It was suggested that the pacificus subspecies be promoted to the species level designation of Troglodytes pacificus with the common name of ‘Pacific Wren’. By applying a molecular clock
to the amount of mitochondrial DNA
sequence divergence between the two, it was estimated that Troglodytes pacificus and Troglodytes troglodytes last shared a common ancestor approximately 4.3 million years ago, long before the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene
, thought to have promoted speciation
in many avian systems inhabiting the boreal forest of North America.
. It is mouse
-like, easily lost sight of when it is hunting for food, but is found everywhere from the tops of the highest moors to the sea coast.
In most of northern Europe and Asia, the it nests mostly in coniferous forests, where it is often identified by its long and exuberant song. Although it is an insectivore
, it can remain in moderately cold and even snowy climates by foraging for insect
s on substrates such as bark and fallen logs.
Its movements as it creeps or climbs are incessant rather than rapid; its short flights swift and direct but not sustained, its tiny round wings whirring as it flies from bush to bush.
It is a bird of the uplands even in winter, vanishing into the heather when snow
lies thick above, a troglodyte indeed. It frequents gardens and farms, but it is quite as abundant in thick woods and in reed-beds.
When annoyed or excited its call runs into an emphatic churr, not unlike clockwork running down. Its song is a gushing burst of sweet music, loud and emphatic. It has an enormous voice for its size, ten times louder, weight for weight, than a cockerel
.
Individuals vary in quality as well as volume of their song
. The song begins with a few preliminary notes, then runs into a trill, slightly ascending, and ends in full clear notes or another trill. At all and any season the song may be heard, though most noticeable during spring. Despite its generally mouse-like behaviour, the male may sing from an exposed perch as its whole body quivers from the effort.
At night, usually in winter, it often roosts, true to its scientific name, in dark retreats, snug holes and even old nests. In hard weather it may do so in parties, either consisting of the family or of many individuals gathered together for warmth.
For the most part insect
s and spider
s are its food, but in winter large pupae are taken and some seeds.
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
, lichen
s 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 egg
s 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 polygynous, 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 polygyny.
, long ago the birds held a contest to see who could fly the highest; this one should become the King of the Birds. At first it looked as though the Eagle
would win easily. But just as the Eagle began to tire, the Wren, which had hidden under the Eagle's tail feathers, crept out, soared far above and shouted: "I'm the King!" Thus the Wren proved that cleverness is better than strength. The Wren's majesty is recognized in such stories as the Grimm Brothers'
The Willow-Wren and the Bear. Aristotle
and Plutarch
called the Wren basileus (king) and basiliskos (little king). In Japan the Wren is also called King of the Winds.
It was a sacred bird to the Druids, who considered it "supreme among all the birds", and used its musical notes for divination. The shape-shifting Fairy Queen took the form of a Wren, known as "Jenny Wren" in nursery rhymes. A Wren's feather was thought to be a charm against disaster or drowning.
The Wren also features in the legend of Saint Stephen
, the first Christian martyr
, who supposedly was betrayed by the noisy bird as he attempted to hide from his enemies. Traditionally, St. Stephen's Day
(26 December) has been commemorated by Hunting the Wren, wherein young Wrenboys would catch the bird and then ritually parade it around town, as described in the traditional Wren Song. The Wren, the Wren, the king of all birds, St. Stephen’s day was caught in the furze. Although he is little, his family’s great, I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat. The tradition, and the significance of the Wren as a symbol and sacrifice of the old year, is discussed in Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough
.
According to Suetonius
, the assassination of Julius Caesar
was foretold by an unfortunate wren. On the day before the Ides of March
, a wren was seen being pursued in a frenzy by various other birds. With a conspicuous sprig of laurel
clamped in its beak, the wren flew desperately into the Roman Senate
, but there its pursuers overtook it and tore it to pieces.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, and the only member of the wren
Wren
The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
. In Anglophone Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
it is commonly known simply as the Wren. It was once lumped with Troglodytes hiemalis of eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Troglodytes pacificus of western North America as the Winter Wren.
It is also highly polygynous, an unusual mating system for passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
s.
It occurs in Europe, a belt of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
from northern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
across to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is only migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
in the northern parts of its range.
The scientific name is taken from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word "troglodytes" (from "trogle" a hole, and "dyein" to creep), meaning "cave-dweller", and refers to its habit of disappearing into cavities or crevices whilst hunting arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s or to roost. The taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
of the genus Troglodytes is currently unresolved, as recent molecular studies have suggested that Cistothorus
Cistothorus
Cistothorus is a genus of birds in the Troglodytidae family. It contains the following species:* Apolinar's Wren, Cistothorus apolinari* Mérida Wren, Cistothorus meridae* Marsh Wren or Long-billed Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris...
spp. and Thryorchilus spp. are within the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
currently defined by Troglodytes.
Description
The plumage
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
is subject to considerable variation, and where populations have been isolated, the variation has become fixed in one minor form or another. There are around 27 subspecies of this taxonomically complex bird. The disputed subspecies orii, the Daito Winter Wren
Daito Winter Wren
The Daito Winter Wren is a controversial subspecies of the Winter Wren. It is known only by the type specimen, a male collected in 1938 on Minami Daitō-jima, the main island of the Daito Archipelago east of Okinawa...
, became extinct around 1940 – if it is indeed a valid taxon and not merely based on an anomaly.
Thus in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, in addition to the typical bird, T. t. indigenus, there are three distinct insular subspecies; one, T. t. hirtensis, is confined to the island of St Kilda
St Kilda, Scotland
St Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
, another, T. t. zetlandicus to Shetland
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
, and the third T. t. fridariensis to Fair Isle
Fair Isle
Fair Isle is an island in northern Scotland, lying around halfway between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands. It is famous for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting.-Geography:...
. The St Kilda Wren
St Kilda Wren
The St Kilda Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis, is a small passerine bird in the wren family. It is a distinctive subspecies of the Winter Wren endemic to the islands of the isolated St Kilda archipelago, in the Atlantic Ocean 64 km west of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland...
is greyer above, whiter beneath, and with more abundant bars on the back; the Shetland Wren
Shetland Wren
The Shetland Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes zetlandicus, is a small passerine bird in the wren family. It is a subspecies of the Eurasian Wren endemic to the Shetland archipelago, north-east Scotland, with the exception of Fair Isle which has its own endemic subspecies, the Fair Isle...
and Fair Isle Wren
Fair Isle Wren
The Fair Isle Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes fridariensis, is a small passerine bird in the wren family. It is a subspecies of the Eurasian Wren endemic to Fair Isle, Shetland, Scotland...
are darker.
Taxonomy
Recent reviews of the Troglodytes genus have shown that winter wrens are the most distantly related of all species-group within Troglodytes, and have shown that two other groups, the Timberline WrenTimberline Wren
The Timberline Wren is a species of bird in the Troglodytidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Thryorchilus. It is found in Costa Rica and western Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 27...
(Thryorchilus browni) and the four species within the genus Cistothorus
Cistothorus
Cistothorus is a genus of birds in the Troglodytidae family. It contains the following species:* Apolinar's Wren, Cistothorus apolinari* Mérida Wren, Cistothorus meridae* Marsh Wren or Long-billed Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris...
, are within the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
defined by all of the Troglodytes. To make Troglodytes monophyletic, Rice et al. (1999) proposed that winter wrens could be placed in their own genus, Nannus. Alternatively, as suggested by Gómez et al. (2005), Troglodytes could be made more inclusive by assigning the Troglodytes genus to the current Thryorchilus and Cistothorus genera.
By studying the songs and genetics of individuals in an overlap zone between Troglodytes hiemalis and Troglodytes pacificus, Toews and Irwin (2008) found strong evidence of reproductive isolation
Reproductive isolation
The mechanisms of reproductive isolation or hybridization barriers are a collection of mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes that prevent the members of two different species that cross or mate from producing offspring, or which ensure that any offspring that may be produced is not...
between the two. It was suggested that the pacificus subspecies be promoted to the species level designation of Troglodytes pacificus with the common name of ‘Pacific Wren’. By applying a molecular clock
Molecular clock
The molecular clock is a technique in molecular evolution that uses fossil constraints and rates of molecular change to deduce the time in geologic history when two species or other taxa diverged. It is used to estimate the time of occurrence of events called speciation or radiation...
to the amount of mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
sequence divergence between the two, it was estimated that Troglodytes pacificus and Troglodytes troglodytes last shared a common ancestor approximately 4.3 million years ago, long before the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, thought to have promoted speciation
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
in many avian systems inhabiting the boreal forest of North America.
Ecology
This small, stump-tailed Wren is almost as familiar in Europe as the RobinEuropean Robin
The European Robin , most commonly known in Anglophone Europe simply as the Robin, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family , but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher...
. It is mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
-like, easily lost sight of when it is hunting for food, but is found everywhere from the tops of the highest moors to the sea coast.
In most of northern Europe and Asia, the it nests mostly in coniferous forests, where it is often identified by its long and exuberant song. Although it is an insectivore
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
, it can remain in moderately cold and even snowy climates by foraging for insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s on substrates such as bark and fallen logs.
Its movements as it creeps or climbs are incessant rather than rapid; its short flights swift and direct but not sustained, its tiny round wings whirring as it flies from bush to bush.
It is a bird of the uplands even in winter, vanishing into the heather when snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
lies thick above, a troglodyte indeed. It frequents gardens and farms, but it is quite as abundant in thick woods and in reed-beds.
When annoyed or excited its call runs into an emphatic churr, not unlike clockwork running down. Its song is a gushing burst of sweet music, loud and emphatic. It has an enormous voice for its size, ten times louder, weight for weight, than a cockerel
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
.
Individuals vary in quality as well as volume of their song
Birdsong
Birdsong may refer to:* Bird vocalization, the sounds of birds* Birdsong , a 1993 novel by Sebastian Faulks* Birdsong, Arkansas, USA* Birdsong , a channel on the UK Digital One digital radio multiplex...
. The song begins with a few preliminary notes, then runs into a trill, slightly ascending, and ends in full clear notes or another trill. At all and any season the song may be heard, though most noticeable during spring. Despite its generally mouse-like behaviour, the male may sing from an exposed perch as its whole body quivers from the effort.
At night, usually in winter, it often roosts, true to its scientific name, in dark retreats, snug holes and even old nests. In hard weather it may do so in parties, either consisting of the family or of many individuals gathered together for warmth.
For the most part insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s are its food, but in winter large pupae are taken and some seeds.
Breeding
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
, 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
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
, moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
, lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s 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 egg
Bird egg
Bird eggs are laid by females and incubated for a time that varies according to the species; a single young hatches from each egg. Average clutch sizes range from one to about 17...
s 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 polygynous, 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
Bird egg
Bird eggs are laid by females and incubated for a time that varies according to the species; a single young hatches from each egg. Average clutch sizes range from one to about 17...
or nestlings. A male has been recorded with four females breeding on his territory. Bigamy and trigamy are the most common forms of polygyny.
Myths and legends
In the European folklore the Wren is the King of the Birds. According a fable of AesopAesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
, long ago the birds held a contest to see who could fly the highest; this one should become the King of the Birds. At first it looked as though the Eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
would win easily. But just as the Eagle began to tire, the Wren, which had hidden under the Eagle's tail feathers, crept out, soared far above and shouted: "I'm the King!" Thus the Wren proved that cleverness is better than strength. The Wren's majesty is recognized in such stories as the Grimm Brothers'
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
The Willow-Wren and the Bear. Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
called the Wren basileus (king) and basiliskos (little king). In Japan the Wren is also called King of the Winds.
It was a sacred bird to the Druids, who considered it "supreme among all the birds", and used its musical notes for divination. The shape-shifting Fairy Queen took the form of a Wren, known as "Jenny Wren" in nursery rhymes. A Wren's feather was thought to be a charm against disaster or drowning.
The Wren also features in the legend of Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
, the first Christian martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
, who supposedly was betrayed by the noisy bird as he attempted to hide from his enemies. Traditionally, St. Stephen's Day
St. Stephen's Day
St. Stephen's Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint's day celebrated on 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian calendar and mark St. Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which...
(26 December) has been commemorated by Hunting the Wren, wherein young Wrenboys would catch the bird and then ritually parade it around town, as described in the traditional Wren Song. The Wren, the Wren, the king of all birds, St. Stephen’s day was caught in the furze. Although he is little, his family’s great, I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat. The tradition, and the significance of the Wren as a symbol and sacrifice of the old year, is discussed in Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer . It first was published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes...
.
According to Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
, the assassination of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
was foretold by an unfortunate wren. On the day before the Ides of March
Ides of March
The Ides of March is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar, probably referring to the day of the full moon. The word Ides comes from the Latin word "Idus" and means "half division" especially in relation to a month. It is a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar...
, a wren was seen being pursued in a frenzy by various other birds. With a conspicuous sprig of laurel
Bay Laurel
The bay laurel , also known as sweet bay, bay tree, true laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel tree, or simply laurel, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is the source of the bay leaf used in cooking...
clamped in its beak, the wren flew desperately into the Roman Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, but there its pursuers overtook it and tore it to pieces.
In popular culture
- In The Jungle BookThe Jungle BookThe Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
by Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
, Limmershin, the Winter WrenWinter WrenThe Winter Wren is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. It was once lumped with Troglodytes pacificus of western North America and Troglodytes troglodytes of Eurasia under the name Winter Wren.It breeds in coniferous forests from British...
, is the narrator of the "The White SealPinnipedPinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
" story. - The GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
saying "jemand freut sich wie ein Zaunkönig" means "be joyful".
External links
- RSPB Wren page
- BBC Wren page
- Birds of Britain Wren Page
- The Wren's song
- Stamps (for 19 issues) with Circum-Polar Range-Map
- Winter Wren videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta