Cactus wren
Cactus wren | |
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Scientific classification | |
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C. brunneicapillus
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Binomial name | |
Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus Lafresnaye, 1835[2]
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File:Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus.svg | |
Distribution map of the cactus wren. |
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The cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) is a species of wren that is native to the southwestern United States southwards to central Mexico.
Diet
The cactus wren primarily eats insects, including ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and wasps. Occasionally, it will take seeds, fruits, small reptiles and frogs. Foraging begins late in the morning and is versatile; the cactus wren will search under leaves and ground litter and overturn objects in search of insects, as well as feeding in the foliage and branches of larger vegetation. Increasing temperatures cause a shift in foraging behavior to shady and cooler microclimates, and activity slows during hot afternoon temperatures. Almost all water is obtained from food, and free-standing water is rarely used even when found (Udvardy 1994; Ricklefs 1968; McCarthey 2000. The cactus wren is a species of wren that is native to the southwest to central Mexico.
Habitat
It is a bird of arid regions, and is often found around yucca, mesquite or saguaro; it nests in cactus plants, sometimes in a hole in a saguaro, sometimes where its nest will be protected by the prickly cactus spines of a cholla or leaves of a yucca.
Behavior
The cactus wren forms permanent pair bonds, and the pairs defend a territory where they live all through the year.
In residential areas, cactus wrens are notorious for getting into mischief. Being curious birds, it is not uncommon for these wrens to be found flying about out-of-place in automobiles where the owner has left a window open or it may even enter homes with an open door or window and find itself trapped.
State bird
The cactus wren is the state bird of Arizona.
Gallery
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Cactus Wren nesting 2.JPG
Nesting in Desert Botanical Garden Phoenix, Arizona
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Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus -Tucson, Arizona, USA-8.jpg
in Tucson
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Cactus Wren on a saguaro cactus.jpg
in Sabino Canyon, Arizona
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Cactus Wren juvenile RWD.jpg
Juvenile, Phoenix
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. |
Wikispecies has information related to: Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus |
- Cactus Wren videos (Tree of Life)
- Cactus Wren videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Stamps (for Mexico, United States) with RangeMap
- Cactus Wren photos VIREO
- Pages with broken file links
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Campylorhynchus
- Endemic birds of Southwestern North America
- Native birds of the Southwestern United States
- Fauna of Northern Mexico
- Fauna of the Chihuahuan Desert
- Fauna of the Sonoran Desert
- Fauna of the Mojave Desert
- Fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley
- Birds of the U.S. Rio Grande Valleys
- Native birds of Central Mexico
- Native birds of Western Mexico
- Birds of the Baja California Peninsula
- Symbols of Arizona
- Animals described in 1835