Thrush-like Wren Campylorhynchus turdinus Scientific name definitions

The Thrush-like Wren is not actually very thrush-like at all.  The species can be found in the higher levels of humid forest throughout western Amazonia as well as a strip of Atlantic coastal forest in Brazil.  A large wren, it is quite distinctive and is not sympatric with any congeners, so identification is straightforward.  Long-tailed and long-billed with a white supercilium, the species is typically brown above with dark barring on the wings and white below with brown spots.  The subspecies C. t. unicolor of Bolivia and southwestern Brazil is much grayer overall, but is distributed between the ranges of more typical brown birds of the subspecies C. t. hypostictus and the nominate C. t. turdinus.  Thrush-like Wren is quite vocal, and can usually be detected  by its varied, startlingly abrupt song.

20·5 cm; 39 g. Nominate has supercilium and lores whitish or pale greyish, ear-coverts mottled grey-brown; crown dull-scalloped blackish-grey, shoulders and back similar with broader scalloping; lower back and rump blackish-grey, obscurely barred buffy grey; primaries and secondaries barred dull blackish and brown, rectrices dull blackish-brown; chin, throat and chest dull white, chest with conspicuous blackish spots; flanks buffish-grey with diffuse darker bars; eye pale orange-rufous; bill blackish above, ivory below; legs dusky grey. Sexes similar. Juvenile duller, spots on chest reduced and less well marked. Race <em>hypostictus</em> similar to nominate, but more heavily and extensively spotted below ; <em>unicolor</em> is very different, underparts with few or no spots, upperparts grey with little brown tinge, supercilium more obvious.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Mostly insectivorous, but also takes fruit. Forages usually in small groups, presumably family parties, mostly in upper parts of trees.

Song a loud, cheerful chortling, often prefaced by a series of harsh scratchy notes; both sexes sing.

Little known. Season at least Jun–Oct in E Bolivia. Nest in Bolivia described as a ragged grassy ball, often containing other material such as snakeskin, scraps of plastic etc., 21 cm high, 13–16 cm wide, with entrance hole 4 cm in diameter located 4 cm down from top, usually located in totai palm (Acrocomia aculeata) or in top of evergreen tree, especially horori (Swartzia horori), also frequently in artificial site such as roof; nest in E Brazil described as domed, oval in shape, with outside antechamber and inner breeding chamber, situated in tree; in the Mato Grosso (race unicolor) may use old nest of thornbird (Phacellodomus), stuffing the cavity with feathers; in Peru, has been seen to enter natural cavity in dead tree which probably contained a nest. In W Amazonian Brazil, in Aug–Sept, observed using active nest of Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) in which to breed (4 Olmos, F., Pacheco, J.F. and Silveira, L.F. (2006). Notas sobre aves de rapina (Cathartidae, Acciptridae e Falconidae) brasileiras. Rev. Bras. Orn. 14(4): 401–404. Close ), as well as in the Brazilian Pantanal at the same season (5 Ubaid, F.K., Pinheiro Ferreira, L., Oliveira Júnior, S.B. and Antas, P.T.Z. (2011). Primeiro registro de Harpia harpyja para o bioma Pantanal, com dados sobre atividade reprodutiva. Rev. Bras. Orn. 19(1): 88–92. Close ). Eggs 3–4, off-white with darker spots and blotches, especially at blunt end; no information on incubation and fledging periods. Nests sometimes parasitized by Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) in Bolivia.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Quite common in some parts of range. Seems to adapt well to forest edge, roadsides and similar habitats. Presently expanding range into N Argentina. Previously considered hypothetical in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southernmost Brazil, but recently (Apr 2015) confirmed to occur there (6 Vargas-Peixoto, D. and Bosholn, M. (2016). A new southern limit for the distribution of the Thrush-like Wren, Campylorhynchus turdinus (Aves: Troglodytidae). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia. 24(1): 58–61. Close ).