Wrenthrush
Zeledonia coronata
A strange little understory bird, unmistakable if seen well. Plump and very short-tailed, like a small antpitta or wren. Mostly gray with olive back; most distinctive feature is orange crown. Sexes alike. Found in high-elevation forests from 1500m to treeline, often around bamboo, and always close to the ground. Listen for high, thin calls.
Identification
The wrenthrush is 10 to 11.5 cm (3.9 to 4.5 in) long and weighs about 21 g (0.74 oz). It is short-tailed and rather plump, with a short thin bill somewhat like that of a Parulidae warbler. The sexes are alike. Adults have a large yellow-orange patch with black borders on their crown. Their face and the sides of their neck are leaden gray. Their upperparts, tail, and flanks are dull olive bronze. Their underparts are leaden gray with an olive tinge to the undertail coverts. Juveniles do not have the orange crown and their upperparts are more brownish than those of adults.
Taxonomy
The wrenthrush is the only member of its genus and family. Despite its name, it is neither a wren (Troglodytidae) nor a thrush (Turdidae), and is not closely related to either of those families. Over time it has been treated as related to thrushes and Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) and by the late 20th century was placed as a member of the New World warblers (Parulidae). Phylogenetic studies of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA after that date led to reassessment of several genera and in 2017 the wrenthrush was moved to its own family. The exact placement of that family is still not firmly settled, but most taxonomic systems agree that it is closely related to the spindalises (Spindalidae), Cuban warblers (Teretistridae), and several other small Caribbean families, and more distantly related to New World sparrows (Passerellidae) and New World blackbirds (Icteridae). BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World places it much closer to the New World sparrows and blackbirds than do the others.<p>The wrenthrush's genus name commemorates José Castulo Zeledón, a Costa Rican ornithologist. It is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Zeledonia coronata
- Authority
- Ridgway, 1889
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Zeledoniidae
- Genus
- Zeledonia
Range and habitat
The wrenthrush is found from the Cordillera de Guanacaste in northern Costa Rica discontinuously through that country into western Panama's Chiriquí and Veraguas provinces. It inhabits montane evergreen forest and elfin forest, landscapes characterized by constant wetness and fog. It particularly favors dense vegetation near streams, including stands of Chusquea bamboo. In elevation it ranges from about 1,500 m (4,900 ft) up to treeline; in Costa Rica it mostly occurs around 2,500 m (8,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The wrenthrush is essentially sedentary, with minimal elevational movement.<p>The wrenthrush is a weak flier, seldom taking to the wing and then for only short distances. It has short rounded wings and a small keel to which flight muscles attach, and there was early speculation that it is evolving towards flightlessness.<p>The wrenthrush forages by hopping among branches and along the ground searching for arthropods, especially spiders and Lepidoptera larvae. It mostly forages in dense vegetation, though it occasionally works the edges of it and also hunts as high as 10 m (30 ft) above the ground in vines and epiphytes.<p>The wrenthrush's breeding season appears to span from March to early July. Few nests have been found. They were domes made of moss, twigs, and leaves with a side entrance and a lining of dried leaves, grass, and moss. They were placed in cavities in earthen banks and were partially hidden by overhanging vegetation. The clutch size in three nests was three eggs. The incubation period is not known; the time from hatch to fledging appears to be at least 18 days. Both parents provision the nestlings.<p>Both sexes of wrenthrush sing, and often as a duet. They are more vocal during the breeding season, and mostly sing at dawn and dusk though they can be heard throughout the day. Their primary song is described as "ssee-del-deet with emphasis on the ending, deet", and it may be sung in a series for several minutes. Their primary call is "a thin pseee".
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Spot-throat
Modulatrix stictigula
Supreme understory skulker in montane forest, resembling a hybrid between a thrush and babbler. A dull but distinctive-looking bird if seen well, with brown-olive upperparts and rusty underparts, a bold dull blue-gray eye-ring and black-speckled tawny throat. The bill is dark on top and pale underneath. Immature is paler, lacking the spotted throat. Singles or pairs are highly localized residents flicking through leaf litter or following ants in undergrowth of Eastern Arc montane forest, between 900–2700m; shy and hops or runs quickly across the forest-floor, seldom permitting absorbing looks. Thrush-like song is a varied but distinctive shrill series of whistles and slurs. Calls include a single upslurred sweet “seeuuuiit”, and a scratchy “werrrt” in alarm.
Brown Tanager
Orchesticus abeillei
Large and rather uncommon tanager found in the canopy of humid forests where it usually accompanies mixed-species flocks. Plain brown overall with a cinnamon face, wings, and tail and a dark mask running through the eyes. Its plumage mimics the Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, with which it is easily confused and it may even occur in the same flock, but note the tanager’s thicker bill. The thin rising song is very high-pitched.
Blue Bunting
Cyanocompsa parellina
Unobtrusive small bird of brushy woodland and forest understory in tropical lowlands, mainly in drier habitats. Usually seen as singles or pairs, low in weedy growth. Male blue-black overall; with good views, note the blue forehead, ‘jowls,’ and rump. Female in West Mexico gray-brown overall, in East Mexico rich brown overall. Similar female Varied Bunting has a smaller bill and different call note: a wet plik; Blue Bunting call is a high tsik in West Mexico, a metallic chink in East Mexico.
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