Cistothorus

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

Taxonomy

The genus Cistothorus was circumscribed by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850. The type species is the sedge wren.

Species

The genus contains five species:

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.