Gray Wren
Cantorchilus griseus
Small, short-tailed, plain gray wren. Note the thin white eyebrow. Found in the tangled understory of seasonally flooded Amazonian forests and adjacent clearings. The song is a loud repetition of “chu-choww” notes. Most likely to be confused with similar gray antbirds, which have shorter bills and unbarred tails.
Identification
The grey wren is 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long. The adults have a lead-gray crown and upperparts; the tail is also gray with broad blackish bars. It has a faint whitish supercilium and the rest of the face is gray. The throat is whitish gray, the chest gray, and the belly a slightly buffy gray. It differs from others of its genus in its smaller overall size, its shorter tail, the gray plumage, and the absence of prominent facial markings.
Taxonomy
The grey wren, with many other Cantorchilus wrens, was originally included in genus Thryothorus, but that genus was determined to be paraphyletic. There are suggestions that the species may warrant its own genus because it is quite different from the rest of genus Cantorchilus.
- Scientific name
- Cantorchilus griseus
- Authority
- (Todd, 1925)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Cantorchilus
Range and habitat
The grey wren is known only from a small area of Brazil, along the right bank of the Rio Javarí and the upper reaches of the Rio Juruá and Rio Purus to the southeast. The Rio Javari forms the border with Peru but the species is unknown on that side (the left bank) of the river. It is a bird of thick vegetation, inhabiting overgrown clearings and the undergrowth of várzea forest. In elevation it ranges only as high as 200 m (660 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The grey wren's diet has not been documented. It is known to forage in pairs and small family groups in its habitat's tangled undergrowth.<p>No information has been published about the grey wren's breeding phenology.<p>The grey wren's song is "a repeated phrase of 2 or 3 notes, 'chu-choww' or 'chippit, chippit'".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-faced Warbler
Cardellina rubrifrons
Stunning warbler found in mountains and canyons with a mix of pine and oak. Gray overall with a striking red-and-black face. Rather long tail is actively flipped around, seemingly loosely attached to the body. Male and female are similar, but young birds show a duller orange-red face. Primarily a Mexican species, with breeding range barely extending into the southwest U.S. Winters as far south as Honduras.
Selva Cacique
Cacicus koepckeae
Rare cacique found very locally in lowland forest in southeastern Peru and extreme SW Brazil, especially near forest-fringed lakes and rivers. Note yellow rump and pale blue eye, which separate it from Solitary Black Cacique. Told from Yellow-rumped Cacique by the yellow being limited to the rump in Selva. No overlap with the closely related Ecuadorian Cacique. It has a varied vocal repertoire, with whistles, metallic squeaks, and various buzzing notes, among other calls.
Somali Sparrow
Passer castanopterus
The equivalent of House Sparrow in dry parts of the Horn of Africa. Males have a chestnut crown and nape, a black bib, and a variable pale yellowish wash on the cheeks and underparts. Females are very dull, but usually also show a yellow wash below. Found in dry habitats including dry thorn savanna, thorn scrub, desert, and coastal cliffs, often around human habitation. Visually similar to House Sparrow, but separated by the yellow wash, and the male is further separated by the chestnut rather than gray crown. Also similar to rufous sparrows, but the male is separated from those species by his chestnut crown, and the female by her much drabber coloration. The call is a “cheep” very similar to that of House Sparrow.
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