Salpinctes obsoletus
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The rock wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) is a small songbird of the wren family native to the rocky areas of western North America. There are 8 subspecies of the rock wren, one of which is extinct. They are similar in size to other wrens, with a grey-brown coat, a brown rump, and a speckled white throat.
They are visually similar to the canyon wren, which they share a habitat with. They are noted for their variable song and song pattern, used for territory defense, as well as their habit of building "pavements" with flat rocks around their nest to help nestlings stay dry. Rock wrens are serially monogamous, forming pairs for nesting season. Nestbuilding usually begins in March, usually in crevices, and the first brood are laid late April to June, with a possible second brood later in June.
They are largely terrestrial foragers, rarely flying. Their diet consists of insects, mostly weevils, during the spring and summer, shifting to grain during autumn and winter. Though they are a least-concern species, their population size has declined by 13% from 2010 to 2020.
The rock wren was first described by Thomas Say, published in Edwin James' book Account of an Expedition from... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 13 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 16 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Rock Wren sighting in Guadalupe Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 513 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 141 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and September
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Rock Wren in Guadalupe Mountains National Park on a given day, against about 30% in February, the lowest month. Those are among Guadalupe Mountains National Park's wettest months, with about 45 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in April.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rock 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.
3rd of 19
Of the 19 parks where we can rate Rock Wren sightings, Guadalupe Mountains National Park ranks 3rd at about 60%. The best odds are in Badlands National Park (United States, about 70%) and Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Troglodytidae
The closest relatives of the Rock Wren that you can see in Guadalupe Mountains National Park (family Troglodytidae, Wrens) are Bewick's Wren (about 50%), Canyon Wren (about 30%) and House Wren (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rock Wren is recorded against all the birds logged in Guadalupe Mountains National Park (513 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.
