Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus affinis. Photographs courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California, March 2018 taken within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southern Arizona.

Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus affinis. Photographs taken in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, April 2020.

Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus brunneicapillus. Photograph taken in Navojoa, Sonora, February 2017. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus affinis and Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus brunneicapillus, are two of seven subspecies of Cactus Wren, all seven of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Troglodytidae Family of Wrens, that has eighty-six members placed in nineteen genera, and one of thirteen global species in the Campylorhynchus Genus. They are known in Mexico as cucarachero desértico.

The Cactus Wren is a large in stature. The sexes are similar in appearance. Their upperparts are brown with a distinct white supercilium, white-streaked back, heavily barred black and white wings and tail, and white underparts that become cinnamon-buff on the flanks and belly and heavily spotted and threated throughout with black. Their bill is long and slightly upcurved, and a deep plumbeous, becoming paler on lower mandible, their iris dark red, red, or orange, and their legs and feet are light gray.

The Cactus Wren is a year-round, noisy, aggressive, hardy, adaptable, ubiquitous, non-migratory component of the the creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) scrub communities of the “warm” Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave Deserts. They also inhabit Tamaulipas thorn-shrub and coastal sage scrub. They are very active throughout the day being insectivorous that consume a wide variety of species and small amounts of fruit as they become available on a seasonal basis. They do not require access to water and can survive off the water they consume via their diet. They are prolific breeders fledging as many as three broods per years utilizing large nests with a globular chamber. Their nests are preyed upon by the Greater Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus, domestic cats, raptors, and snakes. They have life spans of up to eight years.

The Cactus Wren is a straightforward identification that cannot be confused with any other species.

In Mexico the Cactus Wren is found along the coastal regions throughout Baja California, Baja California Sur, and in Sonora and Sinaloa. In the interior they are found in Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León, south to northern Michoacán and northern Hidalgo, and in the northern half of Tamaulipas at elevations up to 2,200 m (7,200 feet). The affinis subspecies is found in central and southern Baja California. The brunneicapillus subspecies is found in northwest Mexico from central Sonora south to central Sinaloa.

From a conservation perspective the Cactus Wren is currently considered to be of Least Concern; however, their populations are decreasing. In California population declines are attributed to habitat loss caused by human development and they are now the focus of conservationists.