Overview
Distribution
Geographic Range
The Canyon Wren is found from southern British Columbia, throughout the United States, and down into Mexico.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
© The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Source:
Animal Diversity Web
Trusted
National Distribution
Canada
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
United States
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Global Range: Resident from south-central British Columbia to western South Dakota, south through all western states (east to Texas) to southern Baja California, Oaxaca in the Mexican highlands, central Chiapas, and western Veracruz.
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The upper parts of the Canyon Wren are rusty brown with a grey head and back. The amount of white spotting on the dorsals varies. The lower face, throat, and and upper breast are white. The underparts of the bird are chestnut and are speckled with black and white. The tail is a brownish color with black barring. The head has a flattened appearance and the bill is long and slender.
© The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Source:
Animal Diversity Web
Trusted
Size
Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
- Terrestrial
© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Source:
IUCN
Trusted
Habitat
The Canyon Wren usually makes its home in arid regions that contain cliffs, steep-sided canyons, rocky outcrops, and boulder piles. Rock crevices and spaces furnish shade, nest sites, and foraging sites. Stream-carrying canyons that provide shelter from the heat and sun with shade are preferred.
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest
© The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Source:
Animal Diversity Web
Trusted
Comments: Cliffs, steep-sided canyons, rocky outcrops and boulder piles, usually in arid regions (Tropical and Subtropical zones) (AOU 1983). Also sometimes found in towns, around houses and barns, on old stone buildings. Nests on canyon walls; may also nest around human-built structures.
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Migration
Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
The species' basic diet consists of spiders and insects that are gleaned from rocky surfaces. Ocassionally, the Canyon Wren attempts flycatching. It is well adapted to foraging in rock crevices with its long slender bill and flattened cranium. These features enable it to probe deeply into small crevices.
© The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Source:
Animal Diversity Web
Trusted
Comments: Feeds on insects and spiders. Forages around rocks.
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
General Ecology
In British Columbia, severe winters result in catastrophic population declines and occasional temporary extirpation (Cannings, 1992 COSEWIC report).
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Life History and Behavior
Reproduction
Reproduction
Canyon Wrens are monogamous and pairs remain together throughout the year. A pair bond may last for more than one breeding season. There is, however, little information on pair formation. The bird nests in rock caverns, crevices, cliffs, or banks. Nests are often protected by a protruding ledge or shelf covering. The cup-shaped nest is built by both the male and the female. The base is made of coarse material like twigs and grasses and is then lined with lichens, plant down, wool, cobwebs, or feathers. Average clutch size is five elliptical white eggs marked with specks of reddish brown that may not be noticeable. Incubation is performed by the female and begins when the last egg is laid. It lasts from 12-18 days, and the male regularly feeds the female during this period. When the eggs are hatched, both parents care for their young. After ten days the chicks are able to forage with their parents and feed themselves.
© The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Source:
Animal Diversity Web
Trusted
Female incubates 5-6, sometimes 4-8 eggs; during this period she is fed by the male.
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Catherpes mexicanus
There are 2 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
-- end --
Download FASTA File
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
Trusted
Statistics of barcoding coverage: Catherpes mexicanus
Public Records: 2
Species: 3
Species With Barcodes: 1
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
Trusted
Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 2008Least Concern
- 2004Least Concern
© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Source:
IUCN
Trusted
Conservation Status
The Canyon Wren population is under no current threat. Their secluded habitat protects them from most human activities. The only human threat that has been observed is recreational rock climbing. Climbers may disturb nesting grounds.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
© The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors
Source:
Animal Diversity Web
Trusted
National NatureServe Conservation Status
Canada
Rounded National Status Rank: N3 - Vulnerable
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
NatureServe Conservation Status
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
© NatureServe
Source:
NatureServe
Trusted
Wikipedia
Canyon Wren
The Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus) is a small North American songbird of the wren family Troglodytidae. It is resident throughout its range and is generally found in arid, rocky cliffs, outcrops and canyons. It is a small bird that is hard to see on its rocky habitat; however, it can be heard throughout the canyons by its distinctive loud and beautiful song. It is currently in a Monotypic taxon and is the only species in the genus Catherpes. It is also known by its Spanish name: Cañon Wren or the French name: Troglodyte des canyons.
Contents |
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of the species has been altered and debated for many years with between three and eleven subspecies being proposed at various times. Generally, three subspecies are recognized. Originally in the genus Thryothorus, it was moved into the genus Salpinctes along with the Rock Wren (''Salpinctes obsoletus''), where some researchers still place it; however, generally now the species is in the only species in the genus Catherpes.
The three generally recognized subspecies are: 1) C. m. mexicanus occurring in the central and southern portions of the Mexican Plateau; 2) C. m. albifrons occurring in the northern portion of the Mexican Plateau, into west-central through western Texas; and 3) C. m. conspersus occurring in the remaining portion of the range in the U.S. and Canada. These subspecies are distinguished by the bill of C. m. albifrons is generally longer than that of C. m. mexicanus, and plumage paler, with upperparts more grayish brown, with narrower black bars on tail. In C. m. conspersus the plumage is paler and it is smaller than C. m. mexicanus.[1]
Distribution
Resident, although individuals may make short seasonal movements. It ranges from southern British Columbia in the Okanagan Valley and western and southern Idaho and southern Montana south through central Wyoming, Colorado throughout much of Mexico south to western Chiapas. It occurs east to southwest Oklahoma and in the Edwards Plateau of west-central Texas. Disjunct populations occur in the Black Hills of southwest South Dakota, northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana. During the winter season the distribution is generally the same, however; concentrations may occur in the Chihuahuan Desert of southeast Texas.[2]
Habitat
Similar to the Rock Wren in habitat, the Canyon Wren prefers steeper rocky environments, particularly in arid landscapes and deep canyons and terrain (sometimes including buildings, woodpiles, and rock fences).
Ecology
It feeds on insects and spiders by probing into crevices with its long bill. Its coloration is rustier than that of the Rock Wren, with a contrasting white throat and breast. The Canyon Wren is more often heard than seen, and its falling series of whistles is one of the more familiar bird calls of the canyons of the western United States.
It builds a cup nest out of twigs and other vegetation in a rock crevice. It lays 4 to 6 eggs, white with reddish brown and gray speckles.
Literature Cited
- ^ American Ornithologists' Union (1957). Check-list of North American birds, 5th ed.. Washington, D.C.: Am. Ornithol. Union.
- ^ Jones, Stephanie L.; Deini, J. S. (1995). "Canyon Wren". The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; 197. doi:10.2173/bna.197. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/197. Retrieved 30 Jan 2012.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Catherpes mexicanus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Howell, Steve N. G.; Webb, Sophie (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
- "Catherpes mexicanus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=178610. Retrieved 24 January 2006.
- Jones, Stephanie L.; Dieni, J. S., Araya, A. C. (2002). "Reproductive biology of Canyon Wrens in the Front Range of Colorado". Willson Bullitin 114 (4): 446–449.
- Brewer, D. (2001). Wrens, dippers, and thrashers. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
Source:
Wikipedia
Unreviewed
