HomeNatureBirdsRufous-breasted wren: A Small Melodious Songbird
Rufous-breasted wren: A Small Melodious Songbird
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Habitat: Rufous-breasted wrens (Pheugopedius rutilus) live throughout the year in pairs that keep in contact by antiphonal singing as they forage through tall, lush, vine-laden thickets or the liana-draped forest’s edge. They are foraged in pairs or family groups, usually in the undergrowth but sometimes much higher in trees.
Distribution: Rufous-breasted wrens are found in South American countries, such as Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Altitude: Rufous-breasted Wrens inhabit the Tropical Zone up to about 1,200–1,400 meters in Costa Rica and 1,700–1,900 meters in Panama and Venezuela.
Size: This bird measures about 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighs 13.5 to 18.5 grams.
Diet: Rufous-breasted wren food consists of small invertebrates that they seek amid living foliage and dead leaves caught up in vine tangles. Sometimes they attack insects that are too large for them.
Songs: The softly warbled, rambling songs of young wrens gradually develop into the short, sharply defined phrases that adults sing antiphonally. The songs of Rufous-breasted wrens in Venezuela differed greatly from those of the same species in Costa Rica. Allopreening has been reported in this and a few other wrens.
Nest: Although Rufous-breasted Wrens build substantial covered nests, they often neglect to use them and sleep in flimsy structures made by other wrens or Bananaquits. Sometimes they roost in niches amid clustered liverworts or under the leaves of tank bromeliads. Rufous-breasted wren and bananaquits may alternately lodge in the same nest built by the latter. Adults were always found sleeping alone. Fledglings are not led to sleep in a nest. Both sexes build the nest from 10 cm above ground amid herbage to 12 m or more high in vine tangles.
Eggs & Incubation: Rufous-breasted wrens lay eggs from January to July, but chiefly from March to July in the Valley of El General. The most frequent set consists of three eggs, with two and four reported elsewhere. Only the female incubates, taking long sessions separated by long recesses. One female covered her eggs for 54 percent of a sunny morning. Returning to resume incubation, she brought material to add to her nest. The incubation period has not been determined but is probably 18 days, as in related wrens. Both parents give the job of nestlings to provide foods and stay in the nest for 15 to 16 days. The female wren with the lowest nest provided the sole distraction observed.
Status: The population is stable in its protected range, thus it is the least concerned on the IUCN list.
Family: Rufous-breasted wren belongs to the family Troglodytidae in the genus Pheugopedius.
Subspecies: There are seven subspecies of rufous-breasted wren.
r. rutilus Vieillot (1819): Found in Trinidad, northwestern Venezuela, and the coastal range of northern Venezuela.
r. hyperythrus Salvin (1880): Found in Western Panama and the Pacific slope of Costa Rica.
r. hypospodius Salvin & Godman (1880): This species is found on the eastern slope of Colombia.
r. laetus Bangs (1898): It is found in eastern Venezuela and the Western slope of Colombia.
r. tobagensis Hellmayr (1921): It is found in Trinidad and Tobago.
r. interior Todd (1932): It is found on western slope of Colombia’s Eastern Andes
Rufous-breasted wren live throughout the year in pairs that keep in contact by antiphonal singing as they forage through tall, lush, vine-laden thickets or the liana-draped forest’s edge. Photo Credit: Jorge Eduardo Chinchilla
