Cistothorus

Cistothorus is a genus of small passerine birds in the wren family. The name Cistothorus is from the Ancient Greek words κιστος (kistos), meaning "bush", and θουρος (thouros), meaning "leaping" or "running through".

Cistothorus
Marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Troglodytidae
Genus:	Cistothorus Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Troglodytes stellaris Naumann, J.F., 1823
Species
See text

Taxonomy

The genus Cistothorus was circumscribed by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850.^[1][2][a] The type species is the sedge wren (Cistothorus stellaris).^[3][4]

Species

The genus contains five species:^[2]

• Sedge wren, Cistothorus stellaris – northern Mexico, United States and southern Canada
• Mérida wren, Cistothorus meridae – Venezuelan Andes
• Apolinar's wren, Cistothorus apolinari – Colombian Andes
• Grass wren, Cistothorus platensis – central and South America
• Marsh wren, Cistothorus palustris – Mexico, United States and southern Canada

The sedge wren and the grass wren were formerly treated as conspecific. They were split based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014.^[5]

Notes

1. Some authorities list the year of publication as 1851.^[3][4]