The rufous-and-white wren (''Thryophilus rufalbus'') is a small

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

of the

wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

family. It is a resident breeding species from southwesternmost Mexico to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. It was formerly placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Thryothorus'' (Mann et al., 2006). This large wren breeds in lowlands and foothills from sea level up to altitude in dry forests or, in wetter areas, more open scrubby woodland. In

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, it mainly occurs on the Pacific side of the central mountain ranges Its flask-shaped nest is constructed high in a tree or shrub. The female alone incubates the three or four greenish-blue eggs for about two weeks to hatching, and the young fledge in about the same length of time again. The adult rufous-and-white wren is long and weighs . It has chestnut brown upperparts with a darker crown, strong white

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 ...

, brown stripe through the eye and black streaking on the cheeks. The underparts are white, with black barring on the lower belly and brown flanks. The wings and tail are barred with black. Young birds have duller upperparts and buff-tinged underparts. The subspecies ''T. r. minlosi'' of the

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

foothills of Venezuela has a greyish tinge to the crown and underparts. The call of this species is a sharp ' or explosive ''tuck'', and the song is a melodious and very distinctive sequence of slow hooting whistles, such as '. Pairs may duet, with the second bird responding with a purring '. The rufous-and-white wren forages actively in low vegetation or on the ground in pairs; it is a shy species more often heard than seen. It mainly eats insects, spiders and other

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

References

*Hilty, Steven L. (2003): ''Birds of Venezuela''. Christopher Helm, London. *Mann, Nigel I.; Barker, F. Keith; Graves, Jeff A.; Dingess-Mann, Kimberly A. & Slater, Peter J. B. (2006): Molecular data delineate four genera of "Thryothorus" wrens. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 40: 750–759. (HTML abstract) *Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''. Comistock, Ithaca. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4777047

rufous-and-white wren The rufous-and-white wren (''Thryophilus rufalbus'') is a small songbird of the wren family. It is a resident breeding species from southwesternmost Mexico to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Th ...

Birds of Central America Birds of El Salvador Birds of South America

Taxa named by Frédéric de Lafresnaye