The hermit wood wren or Santa Marta wood wren (''Henicorhina anachoreta'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Troglodytidae. It is endemic to the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

of northern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The hermit wood wren was first described in 1899 as a subspecies of

grey-breasted wood wren The grey-breasted wood wren (''Henicorhina leucophrys'') is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is found from Mexico to Bolivia. Taxonomy and systematics The grey-breasted wood-wren's taxonomy at the subspecies level is unsettl ...

(''Henicorhina leucophrys''). In June 2016 the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

(SACC/AOS) elevated it to species rank and the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC) and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 2022 ...

followed suit. The parties adopted the name "hermit wood wren" to avoid confusion with the Santa Marta wren (''Troglodytes monticola''). It has no subspecies.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, 2021Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 15, 2019

Description

The hermit wood wren is approximately long. Its crown and nape are olive-brown and its upperparts a sooty or rusty brown. Its throat is whitish gray with indistinct streaks, its breast a medium gray, and its flanks are russet.del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Hermit Wood-Wren (''Henicorhina anachoreta''), 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.gybwow3.01 retrieved July 17, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The hermit wood wren is found only in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia. It inhabits humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

between approximately of elevation.

Behavior

Feeding

As far as is known, the hermit wood wren's feeding behavior and diet are generally like those of ''H. leucophrys''. It forages singly or in small groups from the ground to only as high as in vegetation. Its diet appears to be solely invertebrates. However, it has not been recorded following army ant swarms.

Breeding

No information about the hermit wood wren's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

has been published.

Vocalization

The hermit wood wren's song "differs significantly from

hat of A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

''H. l. bangsi'' in being characterized by a higher frequency and a greater frequency range". (''H. l. bangsi'' is the subspecies of grey-breasted wood wren that is found in lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.) Like the grey-breasted wood wren, it is "far more easily heard than seen."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the hermit wood wren as Near Threatened. It has a restricted range and though its population has not been quantified, it is believed to be decreasing. It does tolerate a degree of habitat disturbance and occurs in some protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27075589 hermit wood wren Birds of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Endemic birds of Colombia hermit wood wren