Wren Troglodytes troglodytes
Breeding distribution change
Abundant resident, some dispersal or arrivals from north Britain in harder weather
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Wren maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows where changes occurred in the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, as revealed by the fieldwork for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007) and the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Gains and improvements
Status
Nos tetrads
Absent to present
5
1%
Present to breeding
76
8%
Absent to breeding
3
<1%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
37
4%
Breeding in both
558
61%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
2
<1%
Breeding to present
225
25%
Breeding to absent
8
1%
Wrens have a vast, if fragmented, global range that includes much of Europe, extending into North Africa and the Middle East and large swathes of Asia and North America. In Great Britain they are virtually ubiquitous, absent only from some of the highest parts of Scotland. Being so small they are very vulnerable to cold weather. Local surveys in 1996 showed a 34% population decline following the harsh winter of 1995-96. But their ability to raise two broods of up to eight young means that their numbers rapidly recover if the following winters are milder.
In Wiltshire, Wrens have been shown to be common and widespread ever since records began. Both the 1968-72 Breeding Atlas and the 1988-91 Breeding Atlas recorded confimed breeding in every one of the county's 33 core and 15 part 10km squares. Birds of Wiltshire recorded them present in 906 of the county's 915 tetrads, with breeding in 791. WTA2 recorded them in 904 tetrads, with breeding in 637.
References
The following references are used throughout these species’ accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007: Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011”-– Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO Books.
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.