bicolored wren

The bicolored wren (''Campylorhynchus griseus'') is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil.

Taxonomy and systematics

The bicolored wren has six subspecies:

*''C. g. albicilius'' Bonaparte (1854)
*''C. g. bicolor'' Pelzeln (1875)
*''C. g. griseus'' Swainson (1837)
*''C. g. minor'' Cabanis (1851)
*''C. g. pallidus'' Phelps & Phelps Jr. (1947)
*''C. g. zimmeri'' Borrero & Hernandez-Camacho (1958)

It has sometimes been treated as conspecific with the giant wren (''Campylorhynchus chiapensis'') and might form a superspecies with it.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 23 May 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved May 24, 2021 Subspecies ''C. g. zimmeri'' has been considered to be an intergrade between ''albicius'' and the nominate ''griseus''.Kroodsma, D. E. and D. Brewer (2020). Bicolored Wren (''Campylorhynchus griseus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bicwre1.01 retrieved May 31, 2021

Description

The bicolored wren is the largest South American wren and second in size only to the giant wren overall in the family. It is long and weighs . The sexes are similar. The nominate adults have dark chocolate crowns and napes and their upperparts a paler chocolate. An off-white supercilium separates a dark brown stripe through the eye from the crown and the rest of the face is also white. Their tail is dark brown; all of the tail feathers except the middle pair have a white band near the end. The throat and the entire underparts are white. ''C. g. albicilius'' is rustier than the nominate; so is ''bicolor'' but its rump is lighter. ''C. g. minor'' is smaller and its nape and upper back are blackish brown. ''C. g. pallidus'' is paler and more gray than the nominate and has a darker crown. The juveniles are grayer than the adults; their caps are mottled gray-brown and their underparts are grayish white.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of bicolored wren are distributed thus:

*''C. g. albicilius'', northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela with a few records in far eastern Panama
*''C. g. bicolor'', western Colombia's upper Magdalena Valley and west slope of the Eastern Andes
*''C. g. griseus'', eastern Venezuela through western and southwestern Guyana into extreme northern Brazil
*''C. g. minor'', northern Venezuela and eastern Colombia
*''C. g. pallidus'', southern Venezuela's Amazonas State
*''C. g. zimmeri'', central Colombia's Huila and Tolima Departments

The bicolored wren inhabits areas with scattered trees and bushes and is completely absent from forests and wide open areas. ''C. g. bicolor'' occurs in arid thorn scrub and the other subspecies in significantly more humid areas. In elevation it ranges up to in Colombia and in Venezuela.

Behavior

Feeding

The bicolored wren forages in trees and on the ground. Its diet is primarily invertebrates, but it also eats vegetable matter such as berries.

Breeding

The bicolored wren has two breeding seasons in Venezuela, January to March and May to August; its season in Colombia has not been determined. It is a cooperative breeder with blood relatives helping the nesting pair defend the nest and feed the young. The nest is a dome made of grass and other fibers and with a side entrance. It is placed high in a tree and is well concealed. The wren sometimes also uses old domed nests of other species. The clutch size is three to five.

Vocalization

The male bicolored wren's song is "a series of multiple loud gurgling notes

The female's is similar but includes a trill. The songs vary widely across the species' range. Its calls are "mostly harsh and grating

Status

The IUCN has assessed the bicolored wren as being of Least Concern. It is "common or abundant nd cantolerate substantial modification of habitat, provided that sufficient bushes remain; for example, tcan co-exist with agricultural practices such as ranching.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q790641

bicolored wren
Birds of Colombia
Birds of Venezuela
Birds of the Guianas
bicolored wren
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot