Bay Wren
Cantorchilus nigricapillus
Medium-sized wren; strikingly patterned if seen well. Rufous above with complex black-and-white face markings; clean white throat. Some populations have clean rufous flanks, others barred black-and-white. Black cap and nape give it a hooded appearance. Often stays hidden in tangles and thickets at forest edge or second growth, often near water. Difficult to get a clear look at. Listen for loud, ringing song, often given as a duet.
Identification
The bay wren is 12.6 to 15.6 cm (5.0 to 6.1 in) long. Eight specimens from Panama weighed 17.7 to 26.3 g (0.62 to 0.93 oz). Adults of the nominate subspecies have a black face with a narrow white supercilium, a partial eyering, and a white patch at the back of the cheek. Their crown and nape are black and the rest of the upperparts are rich chestnut. The tail is a rich brown with bold black bars. The throat and breast are white, transitioning to rufous brown on the lower belly and flanks. Black bars cross the underparts from the breast to the vent area. Juveniles have essentially the same pattern but are paler and with less well defined markings. The other subspecies vary from the nominate in the extent and intensity of some colors and the thickness and amount of barring.
Taxonomy
The bay wren has sometimes been treated as conspecific with the riverside wren (Cantorchilus semibadius) but their plumages are quite different as are DNA analyses. Some authors consider the two of them a superspecies but others deny that close relationship.<p>The bay wren has seven subspecies:<p>The Clements taxonomy combines the first five as the "Central American" group and the last two as the "South American" group. Other authors include schottii in the South American group.
- Scientific name
- Cantorchilus nigricapillus
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL, 1860)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Cantorchilus
Range and habitat
The bay wren's range spans from Nicauagua to Ecuador. The subspecies are found thus:<p>The bay wren is closely tied to water over most of its range, though in Nicaragua the habitat is drier. It inhabits dense, fairly low, vegetation such as thickets along watercourses, overgrown clearings, roadsides, and the understory of secondary forest. It will occur in forest interiors if the undergrowth is sufficient.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The bay wren's diet appears to be entirely invertebrates. They forage by gleaning from foliage and branches and by probing hanging vegetation and tangles of vines.<p>The bay wren's breeding season is between March and October in Costa Rica, between March and November in Panama, and spans January to August in Colombia. Most of the nests that have been described were "elbow-shaped" with an entrance tube, though some were more round. They were made by both sexes from plant stems, grass, and other vegetable materials and lined with finer fibers. The clutch size is usually two or three.<p>The bay wren's song is loud, "a rapid repetition of clear, rich-toned, slurred, ringing whistles, trills, and warbles" sometimes given antiphonally. The species has a number of calls.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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