The grey-mantled wren (''Odontorchilus branickii'') is a species of

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 found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The grey-mantled wren shares its genus with one other species, the tooth-billed wren (''Odontorchilus cinereous''). Some authors have suggested that they are conspecific or that they form a superspecies. The grey-mantled wren has two subspecies, the nominate ''Odontorchilus branickii branickii'' and ''O. b. minor''.Schulenberg, T. S. and T. Johnson (2020). Gray-mantled Wren (''Odontorchilus branickii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.gymwre1.01 retrieved May 31, 2021

Description

The grey-mantled wren is long; a male ''O. b. minor'' weighed and a female ''O. b. branickii'' . The nominate adult has a tawny forecrown and a darker brown crown the merges into the gray of its back, which is browner on the rump. The tail is medium gray with prominent black bars and a white bar near the end. It has a faint grayish brown

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.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

and the face and sides of the neck are also grayish brown. The throat, breast, and belly are white slightly tinged with buff, and the flanks are grayish. The adult ''O. b. minor'' is similar but the barring on the tail is reduced on the central feathers. The juvenile has more of a buff wash on the breast than the adult but is otherwise similar.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate grey-mantled wren has a discontinuous range in the southern part of Colombia's Eastern Andes and on the eastern slope of the main

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia's La Paz Department. In elevation it ranges from in Colombia, in Ecuador, in Peru, and in Bolivia. ''O. b. minor'' is found on the west slope of Colombia's Western Andes and far northern Ecuador, mostly between but locally as low as . It inhabits the canopy and sub-canopy of 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 ...

Behavior

Feeding

No details are known about the grey-mantled wren's diet beyond that the species is insectivorous. It forages up in the canopy by constantly moving along branches while probing moss and lichens for prey. It usually is part of a

mixed-species foraging flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

Breeding

The grey-mantled wren's nest and eggs have not been documented. Its relative the tooth-billed wren is thought to nest in tree cavities, so grey-mantled might do so.

Vocalization

The grey-mantled wren's typical song is "a short dry trill". It also sings "a series of whistled notes".

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 grey-mantled wren as being of Least Concern. However, it "usually is considered to be uncommon or even rare" and "its population is suspected to be in decline".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2225230 grey-mantled wren Birds of the Colombian Andes Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes Birds of the Peruvian Andes grey-mantled wren grey-mantled wren Taxonomy articles created by Polbot