Jan Rothe
Little king with a crown
In German, the name of the wren is "Zaunkönig", roughly King of the Fence. In this picture, that name seems to be well-deserved as this young wren still head a light feather crown. In a book about the history of German bird names by Suolahti (1909), the author describes an old tale where all the birds wanted to crown the one amongst them which can fly the highest. The eagle stepped up and flew high and higher... but on its back, a small little bird rode up into the air with him and at the highest point flew just a tiny bit higher. To the Eagle's dismay, that little bird received the "King" name. The author assumes that the bird in the tale was a gold- or firecrest, which today still carries the genus name Regulus for "little king". In some German-speaking regions the more often seen and admired wren received the "King" name over time with early mentions already in the 15th century. Interestingly it replaced the Old-German name wrendo, which is very similar to it's English name.
Little king with a crown
In German, the name of the wren is "Zaunkönig", roughly King of the Fence. In this picture, that name seems to be well-deserved as this young wren still head a light feather crown. In a book about the history of German bird names by Suolahti (1909), the author describes an old tale where all the birds wanted to crown the one amongst them which can fly the highest. The eagle stepped up and flew high and higher... but on its back, a small little bird rode up into the air with him and at the highest point flew just a tiny bit higher. To the Eagle's dismay, that little bird received the "King" name. The author assumes that the bird in the tale was a gold- or firecrest, which today still carries the genus name Regulus for "little king". In some German-speaking regions the more often seen and admired wren received the "King" name over time with early mentions already in the 15th century. Interestingly it replaced the Old-German name wrendo, which is very similar to it's English name.