Musician Wren
Cyphorhinus arada
An oddly-shaped wren famous for its unique song, which consists of rich, fluting notes intermixed with chirps and rattles. Ranges widely in lowland and foothill rainforest in northern South America, but not found west of the Andes. It is brown with a chestnut throat and breast, and dense barring on wings and tail. There is much regional variation; in parts of its range, it has white streaking on the neck, a white line behind the eye, and/or a whitish to pale bluish eyering. Found alone or in pairs that stay on or near the ground, and can be challenging to see. It is known as “Uirapuru” in Brazil, where it has been celebrated in music, poetry, and even legends.
Identification
The musician wren is 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long and weighs 18 to 24 g (0.63 to 0.85 oz). The adult of the nominate subspecies has a rufous forehead and forecrown that darkens to chesnut brown to the rear. It has a narrow pale buff supercilium with narrower black borders, a chestnut brown stripe behind the eye, and orange-brown cheeks. It has a broad "collar" streaked black and white lengthwise on its nape and upper back. The lower back and rump are a colder reddish brown than the crown and the tail is medium brown with narrow darker brown bars. Its chin, throat, and upper chest are a bright orange-brown with a sharp change to the pale buff lower chest and upper belly. The flanks and lower belly are yellowish brown. The juvenile is similar but sometimes has faint barring on it lower belly.<p>C. a. griseolateralis has a thinner collar than the nominate and is grayer below. C. a. interpositus does not have the nominate's collar and its cheeks are brownish gray. C. a. transfluvialis is smaller and paler than the nominate. C. a. salvini also does not have the nominate's collar and is very dark overall. C. a. modulator is similar to transfluvialis but it has a broader supercilium and its upperparts are lighter.
Taxonomy
At one time the musician wren and the song wren (Cyphorhinus phaeocephalus) were considered conspecific. They, and possibly chestnut-breasted wren (C. thoracicus), form a superspecies.<p>The musician wren has the six recognized subspecies listed below. There are vocal and plumage differences among them, and one publication has proposed splitting all six into individual species.<p>The six subspecies are:
- Scientific name
- Cyphorhinus arada
- Authority
- (Hermann, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Cyphorhinus
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the musician wren are found thus:<p>The musician wren generally inhabits the lower levels of humid forest; in Brazil it is also found in várzea. In elevation in mostly ranges from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft) but is found occasionally as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and even, in Venezuela, to 1,400 m (4,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The musician wren forages primarily on and near the ground, searching debris and leaf litter. Its diet is mostly invertebrates, including insects, spiders, and crustaceans, but it also eats berries. It usually forages in pairs or family parties. Though it sometimes follows army ant swarms it does not usually join mixed-species foraging flocks.<p>The musician wren has a protracted breeding season, spanning at least July to September. Its nest is sperical with entrance through a funnel-shaped neck, constructed of leaf skeletons and coarse grass. Two eggs are laid.<p>Members of a musician wren pair sing antiphonally, "a series of clear, haunting whistles, varying greatly in pitch". The call is "a harsh 'churk'".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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