Cistothorus

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

Cistothorus
Grass wren (Cistothorus platensis)
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, short-billed marsh 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, long-billed 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]