The Scaly-breasted Wren used to be known as the Southern Nightingale.  That name now belongs to the northern taxon.  A wren is a small song bird.  The Scaly-breasted Wren can be found in Central and South America.  It lives in humid forests and ravines.  It lives near rivers or the coastline.  The forests are tropical which means that most of the time they temperature is hot and the air is humid or muggy.  The forest has lots of food for the wren.  The forest is a good place for the wren to hide from predators because it is hard to see it as it walks on the thick forest ground cover.  Ravines provide good protection for the wren and also a good place to build nests. 

 

The Scaly-breasted Wren has a small round shape.  Its tail is stubbed. As it walks along it bobs it rear end.  It has a long bill, or beak.  This wren is a dull brown color.  Its chest and throat are white with black lines called bars.  The feathers have a dark color on the ends which gives them a scaly look.  That is why they are called the Scaly-breasted Wrens.

 

The Scaly-breasted Wren is a very secretive bird.  It likes to hide.  It spends most of its time on the ground.  It walks more than it flies.  It wags its tail almost all the time.  It seems like a lonely bird because it likes to be alone.  It does not like to be around other birds.

 

 

The  Scaly-breasted Wren eats spiders and grasshoppers.  It feeds these same foods to the baby birds.  In a humid forest there are many spiders and grasshoppers for the birds to eat.

 

The Scaly-breasted Wren makes it nest in caves or cliffs.  The nests are made inside burrows, or tunnels dug out of the mud.  They line the nest with leaves.  The Scaly-breasted Wren lays two or three white eggs in their nests.  It takes 16 or 17 days for the eggs to hatch.  Then the baby birds stay in the nest for another 19-20 days.  Both parents take care of the baby birds.

 

Scaly-breasted Wrens are song birds.  They make about 12 to 15 notes quickly.  These are followed by sharp whistles.  They also cry which sounds like the chatter of an anteater.  The Scaly-breasted Wren sings to locate other birds and to communicate with other birds.  They make sounds to warn about dangers.  They might just like to sing. 

 

Author: Michael A.

Published: 2-20-14

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Internet

http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu

www.oiseax.net/oiseaux/troglodyte.siffleur.html

Book

Birds of the World, Les Beletsky, Wrens, 2006