Buff breasted Wren (Thryothorus leucotis)

[order] Passeriformes | [family] Troglodytidae | [latin] Thryothorus leucotis | [UK] Buff-breasted Wren | [FR] Troglodyte a face pale | [DE] Weissohr-Zaunkonig | [ES] Ratona de Dorso Leonado | [IT] Scricciolo guancebianche | [NL] Witoor-winterkoning

Subspecies

Physical charateristics

They are monochromatic but slightly sexually dimorphic; within pairs, males are always larger than their mates. It has the wings and tail barred black, the sides of the head streaked black and white with a narrow white supercilium. Below, the throat is white changing to buff on the breast and rufous on the belly.

Listen to the sound of Buff-breasted Wren

[audio:http://www.aviflevoland.nl/sounddb/B/Buff-breasted Wren.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto

Range

It is found in the Amazon Basin of northern Brazil and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern-border Bolivia; also the Guianan countries Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. It occurs in non-Amazonian regions of Venezuela and Colombia and its range extends into eastern Panama.

Habitat

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest. It is found in forest undergrowth and thickets near water and is more often heard than seen. It lives in pairs, seeking insects in the tangled vegetation along riverbanks, forests and clearings that have partly regrown.

Reproduction

Build a globular nest with the entrance near the top. Clutch size is 2-3 eggs. Young (1-3) often remain with their parents until the latter’s next breeding attempts.

Feeding habits

Buff-breasted Wrens forage mostly in the understory, gleaning arthropods from upper and lower leaf surfaces, dry branches, and aerial litter.

Conservation

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 8,600,000 km². The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as ‘common’ in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Migration

Sedentary throughout range.

Distribution map

Literature

Title Timing and duration of egg laying in duetting
Buff-breasted Wrens

Author(s): Sharon A. Gill

Abstract: Using direct observations of Buff-breasted Wrens (..[more]..

Source: J. Field Ornithol. 74(1):31-36, 2003

Title Context matters: female aggression and
testosterone in a year-round territorial
neotropical songbird (Thryothorus leucotis)

Author(s): Sharon A. Gill, Elizabeth D. Alfson and Michaela Hau

Abstract: Testosterone promotes aggressive behaviour in male..[more]..

Source: Proc. R. Soc. B (2007) 274, 2187-2194

Title FIRST RECORD OF COOPERATIVE BREEDING IN A
THRYOTHORUS WREN

Author(s): SHARON A. GILL

Abstract: Although offspring delay dispersal past the age of..[more]..

Source: Wilson Bulletin 116(4):337-341, 2004

Title THE NESTING OF SOME VENEZUELAN BIRDS

Author(s): ALEXANDER F. SKUTCH

Abstract: I passed the interval from 15 March to 24 July 196..[more]..

Source: The Condor(70,1): 66-82