New Zealand Wren
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The New Zealand wrens are a
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
(Acanthisittidae) of tiny
passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
s
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. They were represented by seven
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
in four or five genera, although only two species in two genera survive today. They are understood to form a distinct lineage within the passerines, but authorities differ on their assignment to the
oscines A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...
or
suboscine The Tyranni (suboscines) are a suborder of passerine birds that includes more than 1,000 species, the large majority of which are South American. It is named after the type genus '' Tyrannus''. These have a different anatomy of the syrinx mus ...
s (the two suborders that between them make up the Passeriformes). More recent studies suggest that they form a third, most ancient, suborder Acanthisitti and have no living close relatives at all. They are called "wrens" due to similarities in appearance and behaviour to the true wrens (Troglodytidae) but are not members of that family. New Zealand wrens are mostly insectivorous foragers of New Zealand's forests, with one species, the
New Zealand rock wren The New Zealand rock wren (''Xenicus gilviventris'') is a small New Zealand wren (family Acanthisittidae) endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Its Māori names include ("little complaining bird"), , and ("twitch", after its bobbing moti ...
, being restricted to alpine areas. Both the remaining species are poor fliers and four of the five extinct species are known or suspected to have been flightless. Along with the
long-legged bunting The long-legged bunting (''Emberiza alcoveri'') is an extinct flightless species of bunting. It was distinguishable by its long legs and short wings, and it inhabited Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. It is one of the few flightless passeri ...
from
Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
, one of the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, they are the only passerines known to have lost the ability to fly. Of the species for which the plumage is known, they are drab-coloured birds with brown-green plumage. They form monogamous pair bonds to raise their young, laying their eggs in small nests in trees or amongst rocks. They are diurnal and like all New Zealand passerines, for the most part, are
sedentary Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soci ...
. Like many New Zealand birds, New Zealand wrens suffered several extinctions after the arrival of humans in New Zealand. Of the seven
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
species, only two survive today. The
South Island stout-legged wren The South Island stout-legged wren or Yaldwyn's wren (''Pachyplichas yaldwyni'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand. History and etymology The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus (NMNZS 2 ...
,
North Island stout-legged wren The North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren (''Pachyplichas jagmi'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand. History and etymology The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus (AU 7 ...
, and long-billed wren became extinct after the arrival of the
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
and the
Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), known to the Māori as ''kiore'', is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. The Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asia, ...
. They are known to science only from subfossil remains. At the same time,
Lyall's wren Lyall's wren or the Stephens Island wren (''Traversia lyalli'') is a small, extinct, flightless passerine belonging to the family Acanthisittidae, the New Zealand wrens. It was once found throughout New Zealand, but when it came to the attention ...
became extinct on the main islands and survived only as a
relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...
population on Stephens Island in the
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A ...
. Lyall’s wren and the
bushwren The bushwren (''Xenicus longipes''), also known as the mātuhituhi in Māori, was a very small and almost flightless bird that was endemic to New Zealand. It had three subspecies on each of the major islands of New Zealand, the North Island, S ...
became extinct after the arrival of Europeans, in 1895 and 1972 respectively. Of the two remaining species, the
rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the ri ...
is still common in both the North and South Islands. The
New Zealand rock wren The New Zealand rock wren (''Xenicus gilviventris'') is a small New Zealand wren (family Acanthisittidae) endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Its Māori names include ("little complaining bird"), , and ("twitch", after its bobbing moti ...
is restricted to the alpine areas of the South Island and is considered vulnerable.


Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomy of the New Zealand wrens has been a subject of considerable debate since their discovery, although they have long been known to be an unusual family. In the 1880s,
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
assigned the New Zealand wrens to the suboscines related to the
cotinga The cotingas are a large family, Cotingidae, of suboscine passerine birds found in Central America and tropical South America. Cotingas are birds of forests or forest edges, that are primary frugivorous. They all have broad bills with hooked t ...
s and the
pitta Pittas are a family, Pittidae, of passerine birds found in Asia, Australasia and Africa. There are thought to be 40 to 42 species of pittas, all similar in general appearance and habits. The pittas are Old World suboscines, and their closest ...
s (and gave the family the name Xenicidae). Later, they were thought to be closer to the
ovenbird The ovenbird (''Seiurus aurocapilla'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family (Parulidae). This migratory bird breeds in eastern North America and winters in Central America, many Caribbean islands, Florida and northern Venezuela. ...
s and
antbird The antbirds are a large passerine bird family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 230 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire ...
s. Sibley's 1970 study comparing egg-white
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
s moved them to the oscines, but later studies, including the 1982 DNA-DNA hybridization study, suggested the family was a sister taxon to the suboscines and the oscines. This theory has proven most robust since then and the New Zealand wrens might be the survivors of a lineage of passerines that was isolated when New Zealand broke away from Gondwana 82–85
million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago) ...
(Mya), though a pre- Paleogene origin of passerines is highly disputed and tends to be rejected in more recent studies. As no evidence indicates passerines were flightless when they arrived on New Zealand (that
apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...
y is extremely rare and unevenly distributed in Passeriformes), they are not required by present theories to have been distinct in the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
. As unequivocal Passeriformes are known from
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
some 55 million years ago, the acanthisittids' ancestors likely arrived in the
Late Paleocene The Thanetian is, in the ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age or uppermost stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Thanetian is preceded by the Selandian Age and followed by the Ypresian Age (p ...
from Australia or the then-
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
Antarctic coasts.
Plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...
indicate that the shortest distance between New Zealand and those two continents was roughly 1,500 km (1,000 miles) at that time. New Zealand's minimum distance from Australia is a bit more today – some 1,700 km/1,100 miles - whereas it is now at least 2,500 km (1,550 miles) from Antarctica. The extant species are closely related and thought to be descendants of birds that survived a genetic bottleneck caused by the marine transgression during the Oligocene, when most of New Zealand was under water. The earliest known fossil is '' Kuiornis indicator'' from the
Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...
St Bathans fauna The St Bathans fauna is found in the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group of Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It comprises a suite of fossilised prehistoric animals from the late Early Miocene (Altonian) period, ...
. ''Kuiornis'' is thought to be more closely related to ''Acanthisitta'' than to other Acanthisittids The relationships between the genera and species were formerly poorly understood. The extant genus ''Acanthisitta'' has one species, the
rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the ri ...
and the other surviving genus, ''Xenicus'', includes the New Zealand rock wren and the recently extinct bushwren. Some authorities have retained Lyall's wren in ''Xenicus'' as well, but it is often afforded its own monotypic genus, ''Traversia''. The stout-legged wren (genus ''Pachyplichas'') was originally split into two species, but more recent research disputes this. The final genus was ''Dendroscansor'', which had one species, the long-billed wren. A Mitochondrial DNA study in 2016 resolved much of the phylogeny, though the placement of ''Dendroscansor'' was unresolved due to lack of DNA testing due to the rarity of its remains. It was found that ''Xenicus'' was paraphyletic with respect to ''Pachyplichas'', and that the stout legged wrens must have evolved from a gracile legged ancestor, and the paper suggested placing the ''Pachyplichas'' species within ''Xenicus.'' It was also found that the split between Lyall's wren and other acanthisittids probably took place during the Oligocene, over 30 million years ago so acanthisittids must have survived the Oligocene drowning. A
cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...
is given below:


Recent genera and species

*Genus †''Traversia'' ** †
Lyall's wren Lyall's wren or the Stephens Island wren (''Traversia lyalli'') is a small, extinct, flightless passerine belonging to the family Acanthisittidae, the New Zealand wrens. It was once found throughout New Zealand, but when it came to the attention ...
, ''Traversia lyalli'' *Genus ''Acanthisitta'' **
Rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the ri ...
, ''Acanthisitta chloris'' *Genus ''
Xenicus ''Xenicus'' is a genus of birds in the family ''Acanthisittidae''. It contains New Zealand wrens. Species *New Zealand rock wren, ''Xenicus gilviventris'' * Bushwren, †''Xenicus longipes'' (extinct) Lyall's wren Lyall's wren or the Stephe ...
'' (paraphyletic with ''Pachyplichas'') ** †
Bushwren The bushwren (''Xenicus longipes''), also known as the mātuhituhi in Māori, was a very small and almost flightless bird that was endemic to New Zealand. It had three subspecies on each of the major islands of New Zealand, the North Island, S ...
, ''Xenicus longipes'' **
New Zealand rock wren The New Zealand rock wren (''Xenicus gilviventris'') is a small New Zealand wren (family Acanthisittidae) endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Its Māori names include ("little complaining bird"), , and ("twitch", after its bobbing moti ...
, ''Xenicus gilviventris'' *Genus †''
Pachyplichas ''Pachyplichas'' is a genus containing two extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand. Species * †'' P. yaldwyni'' ( South Island stout-legged wren) – South Island, New Zealand * †'' P. jagmi'' ( ...
'' (nested in ''Xenicus'') ** †
North Island stout-legged wren The North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren (''Pachyplichas jagmi'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand. History and etymology The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus (AU 7 ...
, ''Pachyplichas jagmi'' (possibly conspecific with ''Pachyplichas yaldwyni'') ** †
South Island stout-legged wren The South Island stout-legged wren or Yaldwyn's wren (''Pachyplichas yaldwyni'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand. History and etymology The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus (NMNZS 2 ...
, ''Pachyplichas yaldwyni'' *Genus †''
Dendroscansor The long-billed wren (''Dendroscansor decurvirostris'') was a species of New Zealand wren endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It was the only species in the genus ''Dendroscansor''. It shares the name "long-billed wren" with the Brazil ...
'' ** †
Long-billed wren (New Zealand) The long-billed wren (''Dendroscansor decurvirostris'') was a species of New Zealand wren endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It was the only species in the genus ''Dendroscansor''. It shares the name "long-billed wren" with the Brazi ...
, ''Dendroscansor decurvirostris''


Fossil genus and species

†'' Kuiornis indicator,'' from the
Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...
St Bathans fauna The St Bathans fauna is found in the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group of Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It comprises a suite of fossilised prehistoric animals from the late Early Miocene (Altonian) period, ...


Description

New Zealand wrens are tiny birds; the rifleman is the smallest of New Zealand's birds. Their length ranges from 7 to 10 cm and their weight from as little as 5–7 g for the rifleman, to an estimated 50 g for the extinct
stout-legged wren ''Pachyplichas'' is a genus containing two extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand. Species * †'' P. yaldwyni'' (South Island stout-legged wren) – South Island, New Zealand * †'' P. jagmi'' (No ...
. The New Zealand rock wren (and probably the bushwren) weighs between 14 and 22 g and the extinct long-billed wren weighed around 30 g. The plumage of the New Zealand wrens is only known for the four species seen by European scientists. All these species have dull green and brown plumage and all except Lyall's wren have a prominent supercilium above the eye. The plumage of males and females were alike in Lyall's wren and the bushwren; the New Zealand rock wren shows slight
sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...
in its plumage and differences between the plumage of riflemen are pronounced, with the male having bright green upperparts and the female being duller and browner. Both the New Zealand rock wren and the rifleman also show sexual dimorphism in size; unusually for
passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
s, the female is larger than the male. The female rifleman also exhibits other differences from the male, having a slightly more upturned bill than the male and a larger hind
claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...
. The New Zealand wrens evolved in the absence of mammals for many millions of years and the family was losing the ability to fly. Three species are thought to have lost the power of flight: the stout-legged wren, the long-billed wren and Lyall's wren. The skeletons of these species have massively reduced keels in the
sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...
and the flight feathers of Lyall's wren also indicate flightlessness. Contemporary accounts of the Lyall's wrens on Stephens Island describe the species as scurrying on the ground rather than flying.


Distribution and habitat

The New Zealand wrens are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
and restricted to the main and offshore islands of New Zealand; they have not been found on any of the outer islands such as the
Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
or the
Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total ar ...
. Prior to the arrival of humans in New Zealand (about A.D. 1280), they had a widespread distribution across both the North and South Islands and on
Stewart Island/Rakiura Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...
. The range of the rifleman and bushwren included
southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...
forest and podocarp-broadleaf forest, with the range of the bushwren also including coastal forest and scrub, particularly the Stewart Island subspecies. Currently, the New Zealand rock wren is confined to alpine and subalpine zones (900–2500 m altitude) on the South Island. It is possible that the species was once present in the North Island, although this has never been proven. Lyall's wren was once thought to have been restricted to the tiny Stephens Island in Cook Strait,Fuller, E. (2002). Foreword; Extinct Birds pp.11–69 in del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie D.A. (2004). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7. Jamacars to Woodpeckers.'' Barcelona:Lynx Edicions. but fossil evidence has shown the species was once widespread in both the North and South Islands. The stout-legged wren was similarly found on both islands, but fossils of the long-billed wren have only been found in the South Island. Fossils of the long-billed wren are far less common than those of the other species, in fact, its bones are the rarest fossil finds in New Zealand. After the wave of extinctions and range contractions caused by the arrival of mammals in New Zealand, the New Zealand wrens have a much reduced range. The New Zealand rock wren is now restricted to the South Island and is declining in numbers. The range of the rifleman initially contracted with the felling of forests for agriculture, but it has also expanded its range of habitats by moving into
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s of introduced exotic
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
s, principally the
Monterey pine ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico ( Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the f ...
. It also enters other human-modified habitat when it adjoins native forest. Like all New Zealand passerines, the New Zealand wrens are sedentary and are not thought to undertake any migrations. It is not known if the extinct species migrated, but it is considered highly unlikely, as three of the extinct species were flightless. The situation with the New Zealand rock wren is an ornithological mystery, as they are thought to live above the snow line where obtaining food during the winter would be extremely difficult. Searches have found no evidence that they move altitudinally during the winter, but they are also absent from their normal territories. They may enter a state of
torpor Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Torpor enables animals to survive periods of reduced food availability. The term "torpor" can refer to the time ...
(like the hummingbirds of the Americas or a number of Australian passerines) during at least part of the winter, but this has not yet been proved.


References


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q646366 * Birds of New Zealand Higher-level bird taxa restricted to New Zealand