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Nava's Wren | Hylorchilus navai
Navawinterkoning | Cuevero de Nava
Nava's Wren is a dark brown wren with a long, thin bill, a short tail and a pale grey throat and breast that lives only on limestone outcrops in humid forest in southern Mexico. It was described only in 1973 and was long regarded as a form of Sumichrast's Wren.
Voice
A loud series of clear whistles that echoes among the rocks, similar to the song of Sumichrast's Wren. Also gives short, metallic calls.
Recording: Sue Riffe — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
15–16 cm. Upperparts and belly dark chocolate-brown, the belly with small pale spots. Throat and breast pale grey to whitish, contrasting sharply with the dark belly. Bill long, thin and almost straight. Tail short and often cocked. Legs fairly long and strong.
Confusion species
Sumichrast's Wren Hylorchilus sumichrasti has a cinnamon-brown throat and breast and lives further north-west; the two species do not occur together. White-breasted Wood Wren Henicorhina leucosticta is much smaller, with a black-and-white striped head.
Habitat
Limestone outcrops, karst hills and boulders with crevices in humid evergreen forest, in lowlands and foothills. It searches on and between the rocks for insects.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Endemic to a small area of southern Mexico: south-eastern Veracruz, eastern Oaxaca and western Chiapas. Does not occur outside the guide area.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The Selva El Ocote Biosphere Reserve in western Chiapas is one of the better-known sites. Listen for the whistled song near limestone outcrops in the forest.
Conservation status
Vulnerable. It occurs in a small, fragmented area and depends on forest on limestone, which is being lost to deforestation, forest fires and conversion to farmland.
Scientific name
Hylorchilus navai | Crossin & Ely, 1973
Crossin & Ely described the species in 1973 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Hylorchilus was introduced in 1897 by Nelson. Hylorchilus is Greek, from hulē 'forest' and orkhilos 'wren': 'forest wren'. navai honours the Mexican naturalist and collector Juan Nava Solorio (1923–2004). The specimen the first description was based on came from 26 km north of Ocozocoautla, Chiapas, Mexico.