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
East Coast Akalat
Sheppardia gunningi
Variable small robin-like skulker of the forest floor and mid-story. Upperparts are rusty-brown and underparts are buff-apricot to rufous (varying in intensity); some populations have a white belly and throat. Broad eyebrow is blue-gray with a white spot above the lores. Pairs can be common but inconspicuous in lowland primary and secondary forest, preferring the understory, but when vocal it sits calling from mid-canopy. Song a sweet rolling repeated “tuwuyu-teelu”. Does not overlap with other akalats in range or habitat choice.
Luzon Island-Thrush
Turdus thomassoni
Dark thrush of montane forests above 1000 meters, endemic to the Philippine island of Luzon. Not strikingly patterned; black with a dark brown head. Also note bright orange bill, eyering, legs, and feet. Forages at all levels of forest, picking fruit from the canopy and flipping leaves for insects on the forest floor. Song is repetitive but lovely, consisting of warbles and trills. Gives low chup notes and explosive rattling series, especially when alarmed.
Greater Ani
Crotophaga major
Anis are bizarre black cuckoos with long floppy tails and unique, very deep and broad-sided bills. Greater is the largest ani, distinctive with its staring yellow eye and glossy blue, green, and purple sheen on the wings and tail. Always associated with water; especially apt to be found low in the forest edge around slow-moving rivers and lakes. Seen in family groups. Widespread in lowlands from Panama to Argentina.
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