Rock Wren

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Troglodytidae

Genus: Salpinctes

Species: obsoletus

**Rock Wren Audio coming soon**

Description

  • Length: 6"
  • Wing span: 9"
  • Weight: 0.58oz (16.5grams)
  • Grey overall with a long thin slightly down curved bill
  • Faint grey streaks on breast
  • Dark barrs under tail & faint bars on top of tail
  • White speckles on back
  • Habitually bobs its body up and down
  • No differences in plumage between males and females
  • Juveniles look like adults but lack the faint grey streaks on the breast and eyelines are not well defined (bottom photo to the right is a juvenile Rock Wren)

Rock Wrens inhabit rocky slopes and other expanses of jumbled rocks

Factoids:

  • Wing span is about the same length as 1 and a half dollar bills & weighs about as much as 3 quarters ($0.75)
  • The Rock Wren usually builds a pavement or walkway of small, flat stones or pebbles that leads to the nest cavity. The nest is usually located in a rock crevice out of sight, but the pavement may give away the nests location
  • The Rock Wren is not known to drink water, but instead gets all it needs from its food. Even five birds kept in captivity did not drink water when it was available

 

All photographs and audio clips are ©Jamie Mullin 2006

Sources: Cornell Lab of Ornithology & The Sibley Guide to Birds.

March 4th, 2007 #121