Nava's Wren
Hylorchilus navai
Very local in humid evergreen forest of limestone (karst) lowlands and foothills in southernmost Veracruz and adjacent Chiapas; endemic. Stays on or near the ground, moving quickly over and among limestone boulders, popping in and out of caves and crevices. Like most wrens, heard more often than seen, but can be curious; sometimes appears at close range, bobbing and holding its tail cocked. Distinctive: rather chunky with a very long bill and a whitish bib.
Identification
Nava's wren is 16 cm (6.3 in) long; a female weighed 29.3 g (1.03 oz). The adults have a rich brown crown and upperparts and a tawny face. Their throat and upper chest are whitish that transitions to pale gray on the lower chest and gray-brown at the vent. The lower chest has faint scalloping and the flanks are sooty brown.
Taxonomy
Nava's wren was originally treated as a subspecies of Hylorchilus sumichrasti, which at that time was called slender-billed wren. After the split, the now-monotypic H. sumichrasti was renamed Sumichrast's wren. Nava's wren is also monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Hylorchilus navai
- Authority
- Crossin & Ely, 1973
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Hylorchilus
Range and habitat
Nava's wren occurs in a small area of southern Mexico, in southeastern Veracruz, western Chiapas, and barely into northeastern Oaxaca. It inhabits undisturbed forest with outcrops of Karst limestone between the elevations of 75 and 800 m (246 and 2,625 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Pale-billed Scrubwren
Aethomyias spilodera
A small bird of foothill forest understory and midstory. Dark brown upperparts, paler underparts and characteristic pale bill. Races differ. Some with spotted throat and whitish or buffy underparts. Searches actively for insects in small groups or mixed flocks, often flicking its tail. Co-occurs at elevations with other scrubwrens, including Gray-green and Perplexing, but Pale-billed has an obvious pale bill. Song, an up-and-down “see-saw” repeated. Call, a scratchy chattering.
Brown Cacholote
Pseudoseisura lophotes
Large ovenbird with rusty-brown plumage, a long crest, and piercing yellow eyes. Found in deciduous forest, second growth, and open woodland. Often also encountered in wooded urban areas like gardens and parks, where it mostly forages on the ground. The song is usually given as an unmusical duet.
Cerulean Cuckooshrike
Coracina temminckii
A large, uniform blue-gray cuckooshrike with a rather long tail, a pale eye, and a black mark between the bill and the eye. Juveniles show barred underparts. Singles, pairs, or small groups inhabit the canopy of montane forest in the foothills and higher. Often joins mixed-species flocks. The only entirely bluish-gray cuckooshrike with a pale eye on Sulawesi. Gives a harsh, rasping “shhhhhhchu” call as well as a very high-pitched “sweee-sweee-sweee” that rises in volume at the end.
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