The white-bellied wren (''Uropsila leucogastra'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Troglodytidae. It is found in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The white-bellied wren is the only member of genus ''Uropsila'', but its taxonomy at the subspecies level is uncertain. The

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC) names five subspecies, the nominate ''Uropsila leucogastra leucogastra'', ''U. l. pacifica'', ''U. l. centralis'', ''U. l. restricta'', and ''U. l. brachyura''. The ''Handbook of Birds of the World'' adds ''U. l. musica''.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021 The

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

's ''Birds of the World'' mentions ''musica'' in its text but does not list it; it does list two others in addition to the above five, ''U. l. grisescens'' and ''U. l. australis''. Cornell qualifies their additions by noting that ''australis'' "may be separable" and that ''grisescens'' is "doubtfully valid" because it was based on soot-discolored specimens.Kroodsma, D. E. and D. Brewer (2020). White-bellied Wren (''Uropsila leucogastra''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whbwre1.01 retrieved July 16, 2021

Description

The white-bellied wren is long. Males weigh and females . The nominate subspecies has a medium brown crown, upperparts, and tail; the rump is slightly reddish and the tail has many thin dark bars. It has a gray-white

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

, a medium brown stripe behind the eye, and gray cheeks mottled with brown. Its throat, chest, and upper belly are gray and the flanks and vent area buff. The other subspecies differ somewhat in the intensity of the brown of the upperparts and the bars on the tail.

Distribution and habitat

The white-bellied wren has two widely separated populations. ''U. l. pacifica'' is found in western Mexico from southern

Nayarit Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Nayarit, 20 municipalit ...

south into

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

. The other subspecies are found from southern

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

in northeastern Mexico south into the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and northern Guatemala, and (slightly separately) in northern Honduras. The white-bellied wren inhabits a range of woodland types from the semi-arid forest of western Mexico to the humid rainforest of the Yucatan Peninsula. In northeastern Mexico it frequents thickets of wild pineapple (''

Bromelia pinguin ''Bromelia pinguin'' is a plant species in the genus '' Bromelia''. This species is native to Central America, Mexico, the West Indies and northern South America. It is also reportedly naturalized in Florida. It is very common in Jamaica J ...

''). In elevation it ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

The white-bellied wren forages for insects and spiders in vegetation "from ground level to a considerable height". In the southern part of its range it joins mixed-species flocks following

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...

swarms.

Breeding

The white-bellied wren's breeding season extends from at least late March to June. Its nest is shaped like a chemical retort, an oval ball with a downward pointing funnel entrance. It is woven from fine grass and "decorated" with lichens, moss, and other materials. It is usually placed in a spiny location such as a ''Bromelia'' thicket or an ''Acacia'' tree. The clutch size is usually four eggs. Both sexes apparently incubate the eggs and both do feed the young.

Vocalization

The white-bellied wren's song is "a short series of 6 rapid up-and-down notes, descending at end", rather bubbly in the eastern population but not the western. Its calls include a "low 'chek', scolding chatter, and hard dry cracking rattle."

Status

The IUCN has assessed the white-bellied wren as being of Least Concern. It is reasonable common in much of its range, tolerates some habitat disturbance, and is found in several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2304236

white-bellied wren The white-bellied wren (''Uropsila leucogastra'') is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Taxonomy and systematics The white-bellied wren is the only member of genus ''Uropsil ...

Birds of Mexico Birds of Belize Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot