Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Cactus Wren

Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

(Lafresnaye, 1835)

Cactus Wren

G5Secure Found in 41 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). © Matt Felperin; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Matt Felperin; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). © Seth Konner; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Seth Konner; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). © Jeff Hapeman; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Jeff Hapeman; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). © Dylan Osterhaus; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Dylan Osterhaus; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). © Robert Hamilton; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Robert Hamilton; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). © Mark Slonecker; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Mark Slonecker; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101450
Element CodeABPBG02090
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyTroglodytidae
GenusCampylorhynchus
Other Common Names
cactus wren (EN) Matraca del Desierto (ES) Troglodyte des cactus (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Has been treated as conspecific with C. yucatanicus by some authors (AOU 1998). May constitute a superspecies with C. jocosus, C. yucatanicus, and C. gularis (AOU 1998). See Rea (1990) for a detailed discussion of cactus wren subspecies.
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-03
Change Date1996-12-03
Range Extent Comments
Resident from southern California, south to southern Baja California, and northwestern Sinaloa, and from southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, western and south-central Arizona, southern New Mexico, and central Texas, south in the Mexican highlands to Michoacan, Mexico and Hidalgo. To 1800 m in New Mexico.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

A large wren (length 18-22 cm) with a streaked back, heavily barred wings and tail, broad white eyebrow line, heavily spotted breast, solid brown crown, and long slender decurved bill (NGS 1983, Peterson 1990).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Differs from the sage thrasher in having a streaked back, heavily barred wings and tail, and a broad white eyebrow. No other U.S. wren has both a broad white eyebrow and a heavily spotted breast.

Habitat

Desert (especially with cholla cactus or yucca), mesquite, arid scrub, coastal sage scrub, and in trees in towns in arid regions (Tropical to Subtropical zones) (AOU 1983). Nests in OPUNTIA cactus, or in twiggy, thorny, trees and shrubs, sometimes in buildings. Nest may be relined and used as a winter roost.

Reproduction

Clutch size is 3-7 (usually 3-5). Incubation lasts 15-18 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest in about 21 days (Harrison 1978). Two to three broods per year. Nesting success and timing of breeding may vary annually (Marr and Raitt 1983).
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralDesertSuburban/orchard
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
TexasS4BYes
ArizonaS3Yes
NevadaS3Yes
UtahS2Yes
New MexicoS4Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
Navajo NationSNRYes
Roadless Areas (41)
Arizona (17)
AreaForestAcres
Black CrossTonto National Forest5,966
BoulderTonto National Forest40,359
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest951
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
ChiricahuaCoronado National Forest76,876
GoldfieldTonto National Forest15,257
Horse MesaTonto National Forest9,146
Lime CreekTonto National Forest42,568
Middle Romero WSRCoronado National Forest60
Oracle RoadlessCoronado National Forest22,365
Santa RitaCoronado National Forest6,078
Sierra Ancha Wilderness ContiguousTonto National Forest7,787
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
Upper Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest2,533
Upper Romero WsrCoronado National Forest150
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
California (10)
AreaForestAcres
Benton RangeInyo National Forest9,637
CajonSan Bernardino National Forest7,548
CalienteCleveland National Forest5,953
Cucamonga BSan Bernardino National Forest11,933
Domeland Add.Sequoia National Forest3,046
Fish CanyonAngeles National Forest29,886
Pleasant ViewAngeles National Forest26,395
South SierraInyo National Forest41,853
TrabucoCleveland National Forest23,341
WoolstaffSequoia National Forest41,445
Nevada (1)
AreaForestAcres
Charleston - Macks CynHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest11,378
New Mexico (12)
AreaForestAcres
Apache Kid ContiguousCibola National Forest67,542
Apache Kid ContiguousCibola National Forest67,542
Candian RiverCibola National Forest7,149
Carrizo MountainLincoln National Forest17,280
GrapevineLincoln National Forest2,086
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Ortega PeakLincoln National Forest11,545
Ortega PeakLincoln National Forest11,545
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
South Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Indian CreekBuffalo Gap National Grassland24,666
References (25)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Anderson, A. H., and A. Anderson. 1959. Life history of the cactus wren. Part II. The beginning of nesting. Condor 61: 186-205.
  4. Anderson, A. H., and A. Anderson. 1960. Life history of the cactus wren. Part IV. Development of nestlings. Condor. 63:87-94.
  5. Anderson, A. H., and A. Anderson. 1962. Life history of the cactus wren. Part V. Fledgling to independence. Condor 64:199-212.
  6. Anderson, A. H., and A. Anderson. 1963. Life history of the cactus wren. Part VI. Competition and survival. Condor 65: 29-43.
  7. Anderson, A. H., and A. Anderson. 1973. The cactus wren. Univ. Arizona Press, Tucson. xiv + 226 pp.
  8. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  9. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  10. Bureau of Land Management. Life History Summaries.
  11. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  12. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  13. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  14. Marr, T. G., and R. J. Raitt. 1983. Annual variations in pattern of reproduction of the cactus wren (CAMPYLORHYNCHUS BRUNNEICAPILLUS). Southwest. Nat. 28:149-156.
  15. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  16. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  17. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  18. Peterson, R. T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 432 pp.
  19. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  20. Rea, A. M., and K. L. Weaver. 1990. The taxonomy, distribution, and status of coastal California cactus wrens. Western Birds 21:81-126.
  21. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  22. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  23. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  24. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  25. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.