Banded Wren
Encyclopedia
The Banded Wren, Pheugopedius pleurostictus, is a small songbird
of the wren
family. It is a resident breeding species from central Mexico
to Costa Rica
. It was formerly placed in the genus
Thryothorus (Mann et al., 2006).
This wren breeds in lowlands and foothills from sea level up to 800 m altitude in open or scrubby woodland, including forest clearings and second growth. It mainly occurs on the Pacific side of the central mountain ranges Its flask-shaped nest has a long entrance tube angled downward and is lined with fine grasses. It is constructed 1–2.5 m high in a fork of a thorny tree or shrub, often close to a wasp
nest. The female alone incubates the three or four unspotted white or pale greenish-blue eggs for about two weeks to hatching, and the young fledge in about the same length of time again.
The adult Banded Wren is 13.5 cm long and weighs 20 g. It has chestnut brown upperparts, strong white supercilia
, a brown stripe through the eye and black streaking on the white cheeks. The underparts are white with much black barring on the lower belly and flanks. The wings and tail are barred with black. Young birds have duller upperparts and dull white underparts, faintly mottled with dusky brown.
The call of this species is a nasal cherrrt or a rattle and roll, kert rrruk kert rrruk, and the melodious and complex song is a mix of clear whistles and musical trills.
The Banded Wren forages actively in low vegetation or sometimes on the ground in pairs or family groups. It eats mainly eats insect
s, spider
s and other invertebrate
s
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
of the wren
Wren
The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
family. It is a resident breeding species from central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. It was formerly placed in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Thryothorus (Mann et al., 2006).
This wren breeds in lowlands and foothills from sea level up to 800 m altitude in open or scrubby woodland, including forest clearings and second growth. It mainly occurs on the Pacific side of the central mountain ranges Its flask-shaped nest has a long entrance tube angled downward and is lined with fine grasses. It is constructed 1–2.5 m high in a fork of a thorny tree or shrub, often close to a wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
nest. The female alone incubates the three or four unspotted white or pale greenish-blue eggs for about two weeks to hatching, and the young fledge in about the same length of time again.
The adult Banded Wren is 13.5 cm long and weighs 20 g. It has chestnut brown upperparts, strong white supercilia
Supercilium
The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head. Also known as an "eyebrow", it is distinct from the eyestripe, which is a line which runs...
, a brown stripe through the eye and black streaking on the white cheeks. The underparts are white with much black barring on the lower belly and flanks. The wings and tail are barred with black. Young birds have duller upperparts and dull white underparts, faintly mottled with dusky brown.
The call of this species is a nasal cherrrt or a rattle and roll, kert rrruk kert rrruk, and the melodious and complex song is a mix of clear whistles and musical trills.
The Banded Wren forages actively in low vegetation or sometimes on the ground in pairs or family groups. It eats mainly eats insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s and other invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s