Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Southern House Wren

The house wren is the most widely distributed native bird in the Americas. It is found from Canada to the southern tip of South America. 
House wren range - Wikipedia
There are 32 subspecies, some of which are sometimes considered separate species. In general, the southern house wren, which I saw, is found from southern Mexico through Central America and South America. 
This shows the darker upper bill and lighter lower bill, pinkish legs, faint eye-ring and black barring on wings and tail. 
They are only 4 to 5 inches long with a wingspan of 5.9 inches. The subspecies vary greatly, but all subspecies have black barring in the wings and tail, a faint eye-ring and eyebrow, a long thin bill with a black upper beak, a black tipped yellowish or pale gray lower beak, and pinkish or gray legs. The tail is also usually cocked. 




I got a very poor photo of a southern house wren in Ecuador last year and more and better photos this year at Tinamu Reserve in Colombia, although none are particularly good. 
This is my one photo from Mashpi Amagus Reserve in Ecuador last year. 

1 comment:

  1. I love wrens. They are the rank-and-file, the average Joe, of the bird world.

    ReplyDelete