Nombre en español: Cucarachero Anteado

Nombre en ingles: Buff-breasted Wren

Nombre científico: Cantorchilus leucotis

Familia: Troglodytidae

Foto: Carlos Martinez

Canto: Jerome Fischer

El cucarachero pechihabano (Cantorchilus leucotis), también denominado cucarachero anteado, chochín pechihabano, ratona vientre rojo y ratona de dorso leonado, es una especie de ave de la familia Troglodytidae que vive en América del Sur.

Descripción

En promedio mide 14,2 cm y pesa 15,5 g. Su plumaje es principalmente castaño. Tiene una lista superciliar blanca prominente, mejillas blancuzcas con líneas negras; garganta blanca, pecho color ante, flancos y región infracaudal acanelados, vientre blancuzco. Sus alas y cola son castañas con líneas finas negras.

La subespecie C. l. zuliensis presenta el plumaje oscuro en todo el cuerpo, mientras que C. l. hypoleucus tiene el plumaje de las parte superiores castaño pálido grisáceo y el de las partes inferiores blancuzco.

Distribución y hábitat

Se encuentra en Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, la Guayana francesa, Guyana, Panamá, Perú, Surinam y Venezuela.

Vive entre los matorrales de arbustos en los bordes de los bosques, a lo largo de arroyo, en bosques de galería o cerca de pantanos, ciénagas y manglares, a menos de 950 m de altitud.

Alimentación

Se alimenta de insectos que busca entre la vegetación enmarañada.

Reproducción

Construye en una rama sobre el agua un nido de fibras, de forma esférica, con entrada lateral que en su interior es semejante a una cesta profunda. La hembra pone de 2 a 3 huevos blancos con puntos marrón y lila.

Buff-breasted wren

The buff-breasted wren (Cantorchilus leucotis) is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae, the wrens. It is found in the Amazon Basin of northern Brazil and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern-border Bolivia; also the Guianancountries Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. It occurs in non-Amazonian regions of Venezuela and Colombia and its range extends into eastern Panama.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and heavily degraded former forest.

Distribution

The core range of the buff-breasted wren is northern and central South America, especially the Amazon Basin; the range does cover most of Venezuela, and northern Colombia extending into eastern Panama. In the west at the Andes and southwards through Amazonian eastern Peru, it only enters the extreme northwest border regions of Bolivia. The range covers the Guianasand the Amazon River outlet island: Marajo Island, Ilha de Marajo.

The range southeastwards in Brazil covers the entire central-southern, and southeast Amazon Basin; from here the range extends almost to the southeast Atlantic coast of Brazil, but is mainly in the southern Cerrado, and possibly regions of the adjacent northeastern Pantanal.

There are 11 subspecies covering this wide and variable range from Panama to southeast Brazil.

Although somewhat nondescript in appearance, Buff-breasted Wrens are extremely rich behaviorally. Like many other members of the tropical wrens, they duet, with male and female partners singing precisely timed, alternating songs. Partnerships are characterized by extreme fidelity, in which males and female live together as long-term monogamous pairs with no extra-pair mating behavior recorded in stable partnerships. Offspring also have prolonged associations with their parents, as they delay dispersing from their natal territories and remain with their parents for about 10 months after fledging. Whereas in many “family-living” species, delayed offspring dispersal leads to cooperative breeding, Buff-breasted Wren offspring have been recorded only rarely providing help to their parents during breeding, suggesting that offspring delay dispersal for other reasons which are yet unclear. Male and female parents build domed dormitory nests in which they roost overnight in addition to their breeding nests, and they contribute equally to provisioning of their offspring.

Buff-breasted Wrens have a very wide distribution, ranging from central Panamá throughout much of northern Southern America. They are recorded as locally common throughout their range and mostly inhabit secondary lowland tropical rainforests bordering riparian areas, where their intense duets make them relatively easily to find.