Rufous-breasted Wren

Overview

The rufous-breasted wren (Pheugopedius rutilus) is a small songbird of the family Troglodytidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, and is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Identification

• Adults are 14 cm long with warm brown crowns and upperparts, and a gray-brown tail featuring heavy dark brown bars.
• They possess a white supercilium edged in black, with a speckled black-and-white face and throat.
• The chest is bright chestnut, transitioning to duller chestnut underparts with a grayish-white centre to the belly.
• The call is described as "churring and raspy", while songs vary regionally and are often performed as duets.

Habitat

The species inhabits rainforest and cloudforest, showing a preference for thickets, second growth, and forest edges. Its range extends from sea level to 1,900 m across the Pacific slopes of Costa Rica and western Panama, the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and parts of northern Colombia and Venezuela.

Diet

Rufous-breasted wrens forage in pairs or family groups, typically within the undergrowth but occasionally in the canopy. Their diet consists primarily of insects, such as beetles, bugs, and flies, as well as spiders, though they occasionally consume seeds, frogs, and lizards.

Did you know?

The bird constructs a large spherical nest made of leaves and grass with a side entrance, which is concealed in tangled vegetation as high as 12 m above the ground.