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Two Rare Wrens Serenade Southern Mexico
Their haunting song echoes against limestone caverns.
© Nick Athanas
Sumichrast’s Wren and Nava’s Wren are both sooty-brown songbirds of southern Mexico. They both live in tropical forests where limestone outcrops provide a natural amphitheatre to show off their vocal feats. Yet the two have very different songs and are never found in the same place. Though scientists once thought they were the same species, genetic studies eventually proved that the two wrens are distinct — each with their own way to serenade their forest homes.
BirdNote®
Two Rare Wrens Serenade Southern Mexico
Written by Ariana Remmel
This is BirdNote.
The tropical forests of southern Mexico are filled with songbirds. And this wren is one of the rarest.
[Sumichrast’s Wren]
The Sumichrast’s Wren is a sooty brown bird about the size of a sparrow. They have long, straight bills and short, round wings that give their bodies a plump appearance. And though they mostly skulk out of sight, that haunting voice is crystal clear.
[Sumichrast’s Wren]
Sumichrast’s Wrens are found in only a dozen or so locations in the tropical forests around Oaxaca and Veracruz. Their preferred habitat is often on steep hills, and always includes limestone outcrops that provide the perfect crevices to build their nests and a natural amphitheatre to show off their vocal feats.
[Sumichrast’s Wren]
Another little brown bird in this region — called the Nava’s Wren — lives in the same type of habitat, but their ranges don’t overlap. Until the 1990s, scientists thought that Nava’s Wren and Sumichrast’s Wren separate populations of the same species. But listen to the Nava’s Wren sing.
[Nava’s Wren]
Now here again is the Sumichrast’s Wren.
[Sumichrast’s Wren]
Genetic studies eventually proved that these birds are distinct species — each with their own way to serenade their forest homes.
[Nava’s Wren]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
[Sumichrast’s Wren; Nava’s Wren]
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Nava's Wren ML127275 recorded by Curtis Marantz. Sumichrast's Wren ML290535691 recorded by Miguel Aguilar @birdnomad.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote November 2025
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# wren-02-2025-11-06 wren-02
Reference:
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/sumwre1/cur/introduction
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22711341/179710528
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/navwre1/cur/introduction
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22711346/179715284
