New Zealand rock wren

This article is about the New Zealand bird. For the North American bird, see rock wren.

New Zealand rock wren
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acanthisittidae
Genus: Xenicus
Species:
X. gilviventris
Binomial name
Xenicus gilviventris
Pelzeln, 1867

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 pīwauwau ("little complaining bird"), mātuitui, and tuke ("twitch", after its bobbing motion).[2] Outside New Zealand it is sometimes known as the rockwren to distinguish it from the unrelated rock wren of North America.

The rock wren is currently restricted to alpine and subalpine areas of the South Island. It is a poor flier and highly terrestrial, feeding in low scrub, open scree, and rockfalls. The rock wren and rifleman are the only two surviving New Zealand wrens; the rock wren's closest relatives were the extinct stout-legged wrens, followed by the extinct bushwren.[3] Its numbers are declining due to predation by introduced mammals.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Xenicus gilviventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22698585A111474204. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22698585A111474204.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Warne, Kennedy (June 2009). "The Also Wren". New Zealand Geographic (97): 80–91.
  3. ^ Mitchell, Kieren J.; Wood, Jamie R.; Llamas, Bastien; McLenachan, Patricia A.; Kardailsky, Olga; Scofield, R. Paul; Worthy, Trevor H.; Cooper, Alan (September 2016). "Ancient mitochondrial genomes clarify the evolutionary history of New Zealand's enigmatic acanthisittid wrens". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 102: 295–304. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.038. PMID 27261250.