Apolinar's wren (''Cistothorus apolinari'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Troglodytidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Apolinar's wren has two subspecies, the nominate ''Cistothorus apolinari apolinari'' and ''C. a. hernandezi''. The latter was described in 2002 and has been suggested to be a separate species.Kroodsma, D. E. and D. Brewer (2020). Apolinar's Wren (''Cistothorus apolinari''), 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.apowre1.01 retrieved June 2, 2021 Apolinar's wren, grass wren (''C. platensis''), and Mérida wren (''C. meridae'') form a superspecies.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 The common and scientific names of Apolinar's wren commemorate the Colombian monk Brother Apolinar Maria (1877–1949) who was also an ornithologist. Its Spanish common name is ''cucarachero de pantano'' (literally, swamp

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

hunter).

Description

Apolinar's wren is long. A male ''C. a. hernandezi'' weighed . Nominate adults have a chestnut crown, blackish brown shoulders and upper back with whitish buff streaks, and bright reddish brown lower back and rump. Their tails are reddish with blackish brown barring. They have a faint

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 k ...

that is a bit lighter than the rest of the gray-brown face. Their underparts are buff-brown that is lighter on the throat and more reddish on the lower flanks. The juvenile's head is dark gray-brown with no supercilium, a buff nape, and less streaking on the back than the adult. ''C. a. hernandezi'' is much more whitish on its underparts than the nominate, rather than buffy. It wings are longer, its tail shorter, and its bill both heavier and longer.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate Apolinar's wren is found in the Andes of Colombia's Cundinamarca and

Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...

s. It inhabits marshes and lake-edge vegetation, especially those with ''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ' ...

'' cattails and ''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Description ''Scirpus'' are rhizomatous perennial herbs ...

'' bullrushes. In elevation it is generally found between though it also occurs at one site with an elevation of . ''C. a. hernandezi'' is restricted to the Sumapaz Massif, south of Bogotá in Cundinamarca. It inhabits very different terrain, boggy

páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

at elevations between . It favors páramo with the shrubs '' Diplostephium revolutum'' or '' Espeletia grandiflora'' and requires '' Chusquea tessellata'' dwarf bamboo for nesting.

Behavior

Feeding

Apolinar's wren forages by climbing up vegetation stems and then dropping to near ground or water level. The nominate appears to feed primarily on ''Chironomus'' midges but also spiders and other adult and larval insects. ''C. a. hernandezi'' appears to also feed on insects but details have not been published.

Breeding

The nominate Apolinar's wren appears to breed between February or March and October and might double-brood. It also might breed in loose colonies. One nest was a ball constructed of strips of ''Typha'' leaves and placed in a thick ''Typha'' stand. The nests are known to be parasitized by shiny cowbirds (''Molothrus bonariensis''). ''C. a. hernandezi'' is a

cooperative breeder Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group s ...

, though a group has only one breeding pair. Up to 10 individuals defend the nest and otherwise participate in the breeding cycle. The nest is a sphere of coarse grass lined with softer leaves and has a side entrance.

Vocalization

The nominate male's song is "a series of rising and falling churrs mixed with harsh gravelly notes" and it may have six or seven variations on i

''C. a. hernandezi'' has at least 11 song types; females also sing and both may sing in due

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed Apolinar's wren as Endangered. "This species has a very small population and range. It is thought to be declining rapidly, owing to loss and degradation of its severely fragmented habitat. All subpopulations are suspected to be extremely small, and some have been extirpated over the last few decades."

References

External links

Apolinar's wren - videoApolinar's marsh-wren- video
{{Taxonbar, from=Q367270 Apolinar's wren Birds of the Colombian Andes Endemic birds of Colombia Apolinar's wren Taxonomy articles created by Polbot