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Grey-breasted Wood Wren | Henicorhina leucophrys
Grijze boswinterkoning | Chivirín pecho gris | Uirapuru-de-peito-cinza
The Grey-breasted Wood Wren is a small, almost tailless wren of the understorey of Andean montane forest, from Mexico to Bolivia. In cloud forest it is one of the most numerous songbirds of the low vegetation, and its loud, clear song can be heard there all year. Across its large range the subspecies differ in colour and song; some former subspecies are now treated as separate species.
Voice
A loud, rich, rapidly repeated series of clear whistled phrases, often given as a duet between the pair; the phrases vary greatly from region to region. Calls include dry rattles and sharp chrr notes.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
11 cm, stocky, with a very short, often cocked tail. The crown is chestnut-brown to grey-brown, with a white supercilium and a black eyestripe; the sides of the head are streaked black and white. The upperparts are warm brown, the wings and tail finely barred black. The throat is white, the breast grey, the belly paler grey, the flanks and undertail coverts rufous-brown. The sexes are alike; young birds have darker, dingy grey underparts and less distinct head markings.
Confusion species
White-breasted Wood Wren Henicorhina leucosticta has a white breast and lives lower, in the lowlands and foothills. Bar-winged Wood Wren Henicorhina leucoptera has two white wing bars. Hermit Wood Wren Henicorhina anachoreta and Munchique Wood Wren Henicorhina negreti are very similar and live higher on the same slopes; they differ mainly in song. Mountain Wren Troglodytes solstitialis has a longer tail and no streaked face, and forages more often higher in the trees.
Habitat
Understorey of humid montane forest and cloud forest, forest edges, clearings with dense scrub, bamboo (Chusquea) and older secondary forest, roughly between 1500 and 3000 m, locally lower (to about 800 m) or higher. In pairs it searches dead leaves, moss and low branches for insects and spiders, usually within 2 m of the ground. The nest is a globular structure of moss and plant fibres with a side entrance, low in the vegetation; outside the breeding season the birds also use such nests for roosting.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in all three Andean ranges, in the Serranía de Perijá and in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. In Ecuador on both slopes of the Andes. In Peru along the whole eastern slope and on the western slope in the north. In Bolivia in the Yungas from La Paz to Cochabamba and western Santa Cruz. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area from Mexico to Panama and in Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Along forest trails and edges in almost any cloud forest in the guide area; the birds keep low in dense vegetation and are mostly detected by their song and rattling call.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is widespread and tolerates secondary forest and edges, but disappears where forest is cleared completely.
Scientific name
Henicorhina leucophrys | (Tschudi, 1844)
Tschudi described the species in 1844 as Troglodytes leucophrys; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Henicorhina was introduced in 1868 by Sclater & Salvin. The genus name comes from Greek henikos, 'singular', and rhis, rhinos, 'nostrils'. It replaced Baird's name Heterorhina, which was already in use for a beetle genus. The species name comes from Greek leukos, 'white', and ophrus, 'eyebrow'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Peru.