Spot-breasted Wren
Pheugopedius maculipectus
Small, skulking wren of vine tangles and thickets in tropical lowlands. Like most wrens, heard far more often than seen. Rollicking, ‘happy,’ whistled song is a duet between male and female, keeping them in touch with each other. Rising call note sounds like a finger run along a comb. Plumage is rich rusty brown overall, with white eyebrow and dense black spotting on whitish breast.
Identification
The spot-breasted wren is 12.5 to 14 cm (4.9 to 5.5 in) long; males weigh 14.3 to 16.8 g (0.50 to 0.59 oz) and females 12.4 to 16.2 g (0.44 to 0.57 oz). Adults of the nominate subspecies have a reddish brown crown and upperparts; the rump is more chestnut. Their tail is dull brown with narrow dark bars. They have a white supercilium and the rest of the face and neck are streaked with black and white. The throat, chest, and the center of the belly are pale gray with black spots and the flanks and lower belly are orange-buff with no spots. Juveniles are paler than the adult and the facial markings and spots are less extensive and dimmer.<p>P. m. microstictus is not as reddish as the nominate and the spots on its breast are smaller and fewer. P. m. canobrunneus is paler than the nominate and its crown is light buffy cinnamon. P. m. umbrinus (including petersi and varians) is larger and darker than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The spot-breasted wren has at times been treated as conspecific with rufous-breasted wren (P. rutilus) and speckle-breasted wren (P. sclateri). They do form a superspecies.<p>The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes five subspecies:<p>The Clements taxonomy recognizes a sixth subspecies:<p>BirdLife International (BLI) does not recognize either petersi or varians, considering them "indistinguishable from umbrinus".
- Scientific name
- Pheugopedius maculipectus
- Authority
- (Lafresnaye, 1845)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Pheugopedius
Range and habitat
The subspecies of spot-breasted wren, including the two that are not universally accepted, are found thus:<p>The spot-breasted wren occurs in a wide variety of habitats including humid coastal and dry forest (intact, disturbed, and regrowing) and cocoa and citrus plantations. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 1,300 m (4,300 ft) in Mexico and Honduras but only up to 200 m (660 ft) in Costa Rica.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The spot-breasted wren forages at low levels in dense vegetation, usually in pairs or family groups. Its diet is not well defined but is probably mostly invertebrates.<p>Some details of the spot-breasted wren's breeding phenology are known. Its breeding season varies by latitude. Its nest is dome-shaped, has a side entrance, and is typically placed in the crotch of a tree or in ferns up to 6 m (20 ft) above the ground. The clutch size is three to four. Both sexes feed the young.<p>The spot-breasted wren's song is " a cheerful series of clear whistling gurgles" given by both sexes [1].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Yellow-mantled Weaver
Ploceus tricolor
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