
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 ~30% in a week ~60%
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 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
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 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Southern House Wren in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve?
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern House Wren sighting in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, based on 75 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 105th most-seen of the 328 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Southern House Wren in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve?
March, June–July and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern House Wren in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in September and October, the lowest months.
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 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve the best place to see a Southern House Wren?
59th of 83
Of the 83 parks where we can rate Southern House Wren sightings, Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve ranks 59th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tijuca National Park (Brazil, about 80%), Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 70%) and Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Which relatives of the Southern House Wren live in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve?
Same family: Troglodytidae
The closest relatives of the Southern House Wren that you can see in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (family Troglodytidae, Wrens) are Thrush-like Wren (about 20%) and Coraya 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 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (75 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.