Eurasian Wren

Description:

The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), 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. The 9- to 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. This small, stump-tailed Wren is almost as familiar in Europe as the Robin. 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, 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 insects 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.

Habitat:

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.

Notes:

this little one got into the shed and couldn't get out. I took a few photos before carefully catching it and putting it out. It flew away, tweeting like mad! In the European folklore, the Wren is the King of the Birds. According a fable of Aesop, 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[9] 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.