Fawn-breasted Wren
Cantorchilus guarayanus
A rather nondescript medium-sized wren. Mostly brown above and rusty below, with a white eyebrow and pied streaked cheeks. Skulks in the undergrowth of seasonally flooded forest and second growth, often near water. The similar Buff-breasted Wren has less strongly marked cheeks and a more complex song. Where the two overlap, Fawn-breasted is more likely to be found in wetter habitats.
Identification
The fawn-breasted wren is 13.5 cm (5.3 in) long and weighs 13 to 14 g (0.46 to 0.49 oz). Adults have a plain medium brown crown and upperparts that becomes rufescent on the lower back and rump. Their tail is reddish brown with crisp black bars. They have a narrow white supercilium mostly behind the eye, cheeks mottled gray-white and blackish, and black malar and moustacial stripes. Their chin is whitish, the chest a warm orange-buff, and the belly and vent area a deeper orange-buff. Juveniles are similar but their facial markings are less distinct.
Taxonomy
The fawn-breasted wren has sometimes been treated as conspecific with the buff-breasted wren (Cantorchilus leucotis), though they have very different vocalizations. The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Cantorchilus guarayanus
- Authority
- (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Troglodytidae
- Genus
- Cantorchilus
Range and habitat
The fawn-breasted wren is found across much of northeastern Bolivia, a fairly thin slice of adjacent western Brazil, and a small part of northeastern Paraguay. It inhabits várzea scrubland and secondary forest, mostly near water. In elevation it ranges up to approximately 400 m (1,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The fawn-breasted wren forages in pairs during the dry season and small family groups after nesting. It hunts in dense growth, usually from the ground up to 4 m (13 ft) above it, but sometimes as high as 10 m (33 ft). Its diet has not been documented.<p>Only a few fawn-breasted wren nests have been described, and little has been published about its breeding phenology. Nests are a flimsy dome of grasses and root hairs with a side entrance placed up to 3 m (9.8 ft) above ground in weeds, bushes, or the base of a small palm. The clutch size is two.<p>The members of a fawn-breasted wren pair sing antiphonally, the male's part a "cheerilo-choli" and the female's "pew-pew, pew-pew". Calls include a repeated "pew-pew" and harsh clicks.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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A medium-sized, long-tailed parrot of mid-montane forest and edge. Predominantly green with a bright red patch from the chest, where it is broadest, to the belly. Yellow bill and lime green streaks radiating from the eye. Readily seen flying in small flocks. Similar to Orange-billed Lorikeet, but Yellow-billed Lorikeet is usually found at lower elevations, is slightly larger with an obviously yellow bill and reddish undertail. Call, a shrill, high-pitch “siiik!”.
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