Fair Isle wren facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fair Isle wren |
|
|---|---|
Scientific classification  |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Troglodytidae |
| Genus: | Troglodytes |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
T. t. fridariensis
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Troglodytes troglodytes fridariensis Williamson, 1951
|
|
The Fair Isle wren (Troglodytes troglodytes fridariensis) is a tiny bird from the wren family. It's a type of passerine bird, which means it's a "perching bird" – like most songbirds you see! This special wren is a subspecies of the Eurasian wren. It lives only on Fair Isle, a small island in Scotland. Fair Isle is part of the Shetland islands, located halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. A British bird expert named Kenneth Williamson first described this unique wren in 1951.
What Does It Look Like?
The Fair Isle wren is a bit different from other wrens. It is darker and larger than the wrens you might find on the mainland. However, it's not as dark as another special wren called the Shetland wren (T. t. zetlandicus), which lives on the Shetland islands.
Where Does It Live?
This wren is found only on Fair Isle. This means it is endemic to this small island. Other wrens, like the St Kilda wren (T. t. hirtensis), often build their nests in cracks on tall cliffs. They sometimes live near puffin colonies.
But the Fair Isle wren is different! The cliffs on Fair Isle are not very tall and are quite bare. They have crumbly rock and earth, with only small patches of grass. So, the Fair Isle wren doesn't usually nest there.
Instead, these wrens mostly breed in areas with lots of boulders (large rocks) along the beaches. These boulders offer the shelter that the cliffs don't. Even so, the windy southwest part of the island doesn't have many wrens. You won't usually find them breeding in the farming areas either. However, young wrens might visit these areas to find food once they can take care of themselves.
What Does It Eat?
The Fair Isle wren spends a lot of time looking for food along the shoreline. They search among the dead seaweed that the tide washes up. Their diet includes small creatures like sandhoppers and other crustaceans. They also enjoy eating the larvae (young forms) of flies.
How Many Are There?
Fair Isle is a very small island, only about 7.68 square kilometers (about 3 square miles) in size. Because the island is so small, the number of Fair Isle wrens is also tiny. There are usually only between 10 and 50 pairs of these wrens. They mostly breed on the boulder beaches.
