Spotted Wren, Campylorhynchus gularis

Spotted Wren, Campylorhynchus gularis. Photograph taken within the Reserva Monte Mojino, Alamos, Sonora, March 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The Spotted Wren, Campylorhynchus gularis, is 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

The Spotted Wren is a small wren. The sexes are similar. They and overall brown color with brown upperparts, a barred tail, white supercilium, and slightly buffy-colored underparts with some black spots on the sides and obscure dark barring on the lower flanks. Their bill is black above and blue-gray below with a yellow base, their eyes are reddish-brown, and the legs are grayish.

The Spotted Wren are are found in a variety of habitats including pin-oak woodland, dry shrubs and cacti and rocky slopes with palms at altitudes between 800 m (2,600 feet) and 3,000 m (9,840 feet). They forage in small groups on invertebrates, vegetable matter and small lizards. The Spotted Wren has been poorly studied and very limited information about their behavioral patterns and biology has been documented.

The Spotted Wren can be easily confused with Bouchard’s Wren, Campylorhynchus iocosus (larger in stature, heavily spotted on the underparts, has a more southernly range).

The Spotted Wren is ENDEMIC to central and western Mexico with two separate populations. In the east they are found from Southern Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas and central San Luis Potosí south to Hidalgo. In the west they are found from southeast Sonora south to western México and western Morelos and west to Guerrero.

From a conservation perspective the Spotted Wren is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. Their long-term viability is threatened by habitat loss.