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Troglodytes troglodytes muiri

A sub-species of Winter Wren named for John Muir


Winter Wren - Photo by Deanna Dawson, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.
Winter Wren - Photo by Deanna Dawson, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. This specimen is an eastern sub-species, taken from Prince George's County, Maryland.

Muir's Winter Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes muiri , is a sub-species of Winter Wren that ranges coastally from southwest Oregon through Marin County, California.

The race was described by Amadeo M. Rea, who notes:

"The first bird named in honor of John Muir, whose life's work of conservation has helped protect the redwood habitat of this wren."
Scientific Name: Troglodytes troglodytes muiri
Common Name: Muir's Winter Wren
Family: Troglodytidae
Order: Passeriformes
Habitat: Thick undergrowth in moist forests. Resident coastally from SW Oregon (Coos. Co.) south to Marin Co., California. Winters rarely somewhat further south (Santa Cruz County).
Types: Navarro River, 7 km. inland, Mendocino County, California
Taxonomic Comments: Smallest, palest, least vermiculated western race. Nearest salebrosus, but paler and more rufescent with richer, more Ochraceous-Buff superciliary, buffier flanks and chest, and more contrastingly pale abdomen. Paler, brighter, and more rufuscent than obscurior. Paler and (when thoroughly foxed ) less deeply rufescent than pacificus.
(Phillips, 1986)

Source: The Known Birds of North and Middle America by Allan R. Phillips (1986), p. 140.



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