The Shetland Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes zetlandicus, is a small 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...

 bird in 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. It is a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the Eurasian Wren

Eurasian Wren

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...

 endemic to the Shetland archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

, north-east 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...

, with the exception of 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:...

 which has its own endemic subspecies, the 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...

.

Description

The Shetland Wren is distinguished by its darker and more rufous-brown colouring from the mainland form, with a heavily barred underside, the barring extending from belly to breast. The bill

Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

 is stouter and longer and it has stronger legs.

Breeding

The main breeding habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

of Shetland Wrens is boulder beaches, though when population levels increase some birds will nest further inland.

Status

An estimate of the population, from the start of the 21st century, was of 1500-3000 breeding pairs.