Microcerculus

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Microcerculus

| image = Microcerculus marginatus.jpg

| image_caption = Southern nightingale-wren
(M. marginatus)

| taxon = Microcerculus

| authority = Salvin, 1861

| type_species = Turdus bambla{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=174 |title= Troglodytididae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-15}}

}}

Microcerculus is a genus of birds in the wren family Troglodytidae that are endemic to Central America and tropical regions of South America.

These are small wrens with very short tails, long legs and a long bill. They forage on or near the ground in humid forests.{{ cite book | last1=Ridgely | first1=Robert S. | last2=Tudor | first2=Guy | year=2009 | title=Birds of South America: Passerines | series=Helm Field Guides | place=London | publisher=Christopher Helm | isbn=978-1-408-11342-4 | page=535 }}

The genus was first mentioned in print by the English naturalist Osbert Salvin in 1861. Salvin credits the zoologist Philip Sclater for coining the name but Sclater's book on American birds was not published until 1862.{{ cite journal | last=Salvin | first=Osbert | author-link=Osbert Salvin | year=1861 | title=Descriptions of three new species of bird from Guatemala | journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London | pages=202–203 [202] | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28672726 }}{{ cite book | last=Sclater | first=P.L. | author-link=Philip Sclater | year=1862 | title=Catalogue of a Collection of American Birds | location=London | publisher=N. Trubner and Co. | page=19 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13302199 }} Some taxonomists credit Sclater for erecting the genus in 1862.{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=435 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481110 }}{{ cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Christidis | editor-first2=L. | editor2-link=Leslie Christidis | year=2014 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=2: Passerines | edition=4th | place=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-2-2 | page=556 }} The type species was subsequently designated as the wing-banded wren (Microcerculus bambla) by the American naturalist Spencer Baird in 1864.{{ cite book | last=Baird | first=S.F. | author-link=Spencer Fullerton Baird | year=1864 | title=Review of American Birds in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution | volume=Part 1, North and Middle America | location=Washington | publisher=Smithsonian Institution | page=113 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7283363 }} The genus name is a diminutive of the Ancient Greek mikros meaning "small" and kerkos meaning "tail".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl | url-access=limited | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl/page/n253 253] }}

The genus contains the following species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Dapple-throats, sugarbirds, fairy-bluebirds, kinglets, hyliotas, wrens, gnatcatchers | website=IOC World Bird List Version 9.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sugarbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=31 August 2019 }}

• Wing-banded wren (Microcerculus bambla)
• Southern nightingale-wren (Microcerculus marginatus)
• Northern nightingale-wren (Microcerculus philomela)
• Flutist wren (Microcerculus ustulatus)