page_title: Eurasian wren
section_title: Breeding
hierarchical_section_title: Eurasian wren / Behaviour and ecology / Breeding
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch&#x3a;&#32; Ei von Zaunkönig . Sammlung Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut.English&#x3a;&#32; Egg of Eurasian Wren. Collection of Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut.Français&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Œuf de Troglodyte mignon. Collection de Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut.
context_page_description: The Eurasian wren is a very small bird, and the only member of the wren family Troglodytidae found in Eurasia and Africa. 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 Eurasian wren occurs in Europe and across the Palearctic – including a belt of Asia from northern Iran and Afghanistan across to Japan. It is migratory in only the northern parts of its range. It is also highly polygynous, an unusual mating system for passerines.
  The scientific name is taken from the Greek word "troglodytes", meaning "cave-dweller", and refers to its habit of disappearing into cavities or crevices whilst hunting arthropods 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.
context_section_description: The male wren builds several nests in his territory; these are called "cock nests" but are never lined until the female chooses one to use. The number of nests on a territory influences the female's choice of mate; she preferentially mates with a male that had constructed numerous nests. Courtship includes display and posturing by the male. He sings with wings and tail half open, or with them drooping, sometimes with one wing extended, or the wings may be raised and lowered several times in quick succession. 
  The neatly-domed nest has a side entrance and is built of grass, moss, lichen and dead leaves, whatever is available locally. It is often tucked into a hole in a wall or tree trunk or a crack in a rock, but it is often built in brambles, a bush or a hedge, among ivy on a bank, in thatch, or in abandoned bird's nests such as those of the house sparrow, swallow, house martin and dipper. On making her selection, the female wren lines the nest generously with feathers.
  A clutch of five or six (range three to eleven) eggs are laid from April onwards. These average 16.6 by 12.7 mm (0.65 by 0.50 in) and are white with variable amounts of reddish-brown speckles, mostly on the broad end. The female alone incubates these, and they hatch after 14 to 15 days. The young are fed on insects, spiders and other small invertebrates; there is no record of the male feeding the young in the nest, but he does do so after they have fledged, which happens after about 16 days. There are usually two broods.
  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.
caption: Troglodytes troglodytes
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Troglodytes troglodytes kabylorum Hartert, E, 1910 T\u00e9bessa MHNT ZOO 2010 11 232", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D800E", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2014:03:30 15:46:20", "Image Artist": "Didier Descouens", "Image ExifOffset": "2450", "Image XPTitle": "[84, 0, 114, 0, 111, 0, 103, 0, 108, 0, 111, 0, 100, 0, 121, 0, 116, 0, 101, 0, ... ]", "Image XPAuthor": "Didier Descouens", "Image XPKeywords": "[84, 0, 114, 0, 111, 0, 103, 0, 108, 0, 111, 0, 100, 0, 121, 0, 116, 0, 101, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5628", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4678", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "22", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:10:09 15:36:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:10:09 15:36:53", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5906891/1000000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "8918863/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "120", "EXIF SubSecTime": "20", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "20", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "20", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3327", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3334", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1678051/8192", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1678051/8192", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "4", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "120", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "6011792", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 120, 4, 4]", "EXIF LensModel": "24.0-120.0 mm f/4.0", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}