Sumichrast's wren (''Hylorchilus sumichrasti''), also known as the slender-billed wren, 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 lightweig ...
in 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 els ...
to
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 Guate ...
.
Taxonomy and systematics
Sumichrast's wren is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
. A former subspecies, ''Hylorchilus sumichrasti navai'' was elevated to species status as
Nava's wren in the 1990s.
[Soberanes-González, C. A., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, M. d. C. Arizmendi, and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Sumichrast's Wren (''Hylorchilus sumichrasti''), 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.sumwre1.01 retrieved June 2, 2021]
The common name of this species commemorates the Mexican naturalist
François Sumichrast.
Description
Sumichrast's wren is long; a female weighed . The adults have uniform deep brown crowns, napes, and backs; their rumps are a sooty brown. Their chin and throat are buff that deepens through the breast into the flanks and belly. The breast has faint dark bars and the belly has tiny white dots. The juvenile is similar, but its throat has a dirty look and faint dusky scales, its underparts are darker, and the breast and belly markings are fainter.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
Sumichrast's wren occurs in a small area of Mexico, from central Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
into northern Oaxaca
)
, population_note =
, population_rank = 10th
, timezone1 = CST
, utc_offset1 = −6
, timezone1_DST = CDT
, utc_offset1_DST = −5
, postal_code_type = Postal ...
. It inhabits the understory of humid forest, both evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
and semi-deciduous
Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical woody ...
, and also shady coffee plantations. However, it is found only in scattered sites that have extensive limestone outcroppings. In elevation it ranges from .[
]
Behavior
Feeding
The diet of Sumichrast's wren is primarily arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s and other invertebrates such as snails and worms, and also includes small fruit as a minor component. It forages on and very near the ground with hops and short flights, probing into crevices for prey and occasionally snatching a flying insect that passes it.[
]
Breeding
Active Sumichrast's wren nests have been found in May. The nest is a cup made of grass, roots, and other materials and placed in a cave or crevice. Both sexes provide the materials but only the female builds it. The clutch size is three. The male brings food to the female during incubation and both sexes provision nestlings.[
]
Vocalization
The male Sumichrast's wren sings "a varied descending series of loud, rich whistles
The female sings "a simple phrase consisting of a single repeated syllable". One of its calls i
[
]
Status
The IUCN has assessed Sumichrast's wren as Near Threatened. "This species has a small range and a moderately small population. Both its range and population are probably in decline owing to increasing habitat loss and degradation."[
]
References
External links
Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2225023
Sumichrast's wren
Sumichrast's wren
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot