Cactus Wren - BirdForum Opus

Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

Photo by digishooter
Kelso Valley, Kern County, California, USA

Identification

L. 7-8 1/4 in (18-21 cm)

• Starling sized wren
• Spotted underparts
• White eyebrows
• Rusty crown
• White spots on outer tail feathers

Distribution

Immature
Photo by jayceeaz
Arizona, May 2006

Resident from southern California, southern Nevada, Utah, and western Texas southward to Mexico.

Taxonomy

Display – Throat and body feathers ruffle when singing
Photo © by Joseph Morlan
Uvalde, Texas, USA, 17 April 2021

Subspecies^[1]

There are 8 subspecies:

• C. b. anthonyi (couesi):

• Arid south-western US to northern Baja California, north-western Mexico and extreme northern Tamaulipas

• C. b. sandiegensis:

• Arid San Diego County (southern California) and adjacent north-western Baja

• C. b. brunneicapillus bryanti:

• Pacific slope of western Baja California between 31º and 29º 30'N

• C. b. purus:

• Coastal central Baja California between 29º and 25ºN

• C. b. seri:

• Isla Tiburón (Sea of Cortés)

• C. b. affinis:

• Southern Baja California (south of 25º N to Cabo San Lucas)

• C. b. brunneicapillus:

• North-western Mexico (central Sonora to northern Sinaloa)

• C. b.s guttatus:

• Southern and central Texas; central plateau of Mexico

Habitat

Arid and semi arid desert.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes ants, beetles, grasshoppers, wasps, seeds and fruits.

Breeding

Both sexes build a football-shaped nest of dry grasses lined with feathers, with a small side entrance, placed in cactus plants. The clutch consists of 4-5 buff, speckled brown, eggs which are incubated by the female for 16 days. The male continues to build more nests for roosting and nesting sites. Both parents care for the young, who fledge in 19-23 days.

Vocalisation

Rapid, mechanical chug-chug-chug-chug-chug.

In Culture

State Bird of Arizona.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. blueplanetbiomes

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cactus Wren. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cactus_Wren

External Links

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