
Southern House Wren
Troglodytes musculus
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyTroglodytidae (Wrens)
- GenusTroglodytes (Troglodytes Wrens)
- SpeciesTroglodytes musculus (Southern House Wren)
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
About the Southern House Wren
The southern house wren (Troglodytes musculus) is a very small passerine bird in the wren family Troglodytidae. It is found from southern Mexico to southern Chile and southern Argentina. The name troglodytes means "hole dweller", and is a reference to the bird's tendency to disappear into crevices when hunting insects or to seek shelter. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the northern house wren (Troglodytes aedon).
The southern house wren was formally described in 1823 by the German naturalist Johann Andreas Naumann under the binomial name Troglodytes musculus. He specified the type locality as the state of Bahia in eastern Brazil. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "little mouse". The southern house wren was formerly considered to be part of the house wren complex that also included the northern house wren and six insular forms. The southern house wren was split from the complex based on the deep genetic divergence, differences in vocalizations and differences in morphology.
Twenty-one subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
Sounds
Recording0:15
Guatemala · 2026
© Julia Carr · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording1:00
Brazil · 2026
© Márcio Alves Cardoso · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:08
Argentina · 2026
© ignaciocostagliola · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recent sightings of Southern House Wren in San Salvador
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 2 | Natal | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 7 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Niterói | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 10 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Closest Relatives at San Salvador
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Southern House Wren in San Salvador?
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern House Wren sighting in San Salvador on a given day, based on 514 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 36th most-seen of the 153 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Southern House Wren in San Salvador?
May to August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Southern House Wren in San Salvador on a given day, against about 10% in October to February, the lowest months. Those are among San Salvador's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain a month against almost none in January.
What time of day is best to see a Southern House Wren?
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern House Wren sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Is San Salvador the best place to see a Southern House Wren?
44th of 49
Of the 49 cities where we can rate Southern House Wren sightings, San Salvador ranks 44th at about 20%. The best odds are in Santiago (Chile, about 90%), Natal (Brazil, about 80%) and Caracas (Venezuela, about 80%).
Which relatives of the Southern House Wren live in San Salvador?
Same family: Troglodytidae
The closest relatives of the Southern House Wren that you can see in San Salvador (family Troglodytidae, Wrens) are Rufous-backed Wren (about 60%), Cabanis's Wren (about 10%) and Spot-breasted Wren (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
Where does the Southern House Wren sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern House Wren is recorded against all the birds logged in San Salvador (514 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.