Sclater's wren (''Campylorhynchus humilis'') is a songbird of the family Troglodytidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Taxonomy and systematics

What is now Sclater's wren was previously treated as one of eight subspecies of rufous-naped wren (''Campylorhynchus rufinucha''). A 2009 publication proposed that ''Campylorhynchus rufinucha'' ('' sensu lato'') be split into three species 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) accepted the splits. What had been ''C. r. humilis'' was elevated to species status as Sclater's wren. The reduced ''C. rufinucha'' received the new English name Veracruz wren and the other six subspecies became subspecies of ''C. capistratus'', the rufous-backed wren.

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(BLI) has implemented the split but retains the English name rufous-naped wren for ''C. rufinucha''. However, the North 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 ...

(NACC/AOS) 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 ...

have not accepted the split as of early 2021.Clements, 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 adult Sclater's wren has a reddish brown crown, blackish lores and eyestripe, and a 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 ...

. Its nape and back are chestnut and its tail is gray-brown with darker bars and a white tip. Its chin and throat are white, the chest pale buff, and its belly a darker buff with faint blackish bars on the flanks. The juvenile is similar but its supercilium is buffy white, the back a duller chestnut, and the markings on the back less distinct.Bradley, D. W. and D. J. Mennill (2020). Rufous-naped Wren (''Campylorhynchus rufinucha''), 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.runwre1.01 retrieved May 31, 2021

Distribution and habitat

Sclater's wren is endemic to Mexico. It is found in from Colima south through

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

to Guerrero and east to

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

and southwestern

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

. It inhabits lowland dry tropical forest, primarily in arid and semi-arid areas. It also occurs in human-modified landscapes and coastal mangroves. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

Sclater's wren preys on a variety of insects.

Breeding

Little information is available on Sclater's 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 ...

. It is known to build a globular nest with a side entrance like the other species in its genus. It typically constructs them in thorny bushes and trees, especially ''

Vachellia collinsii ''Vachellia collinsii'' is a species of flowering plant native to Central America and parts of Africa. It grows in secondary succession in seasonally dry ecosystems in southern Central America, with preferences to Savannah-like climate. The Vac ...

''.

Vocalization

An example of the Sclater's wren song i

An example call i

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 Sclater's wren as being of Least Concern. "The population has not been quantified since the species was split" but "is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q12255627 Campylorhynchus Birds of Mexico Birds described in 1857 Taxa named by Philip Sclater