Photo: Steven Easley

"A strange little understory bird, unmistakable if seen well. Plump and very short-tailed, like a small antpitta or wren. Mostly gray with olive back; most distinctive feature is orange crown. Sexes alike. Found in high-elevation forests from 1500m to treeline, often around bamboo, and always close to the ground. Listen for high, thin calls."

Gray-throated Chat (Granatellus sallaei)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident; southern Mexico, especially the Yucatan, as well as Belize and Guatemala

Habitat: lowland forests and their edges in dry and semi-humid areas

Subspecies: 2

Wrenthrush (Zeledonia coronata)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident; Costa Rica to western Panama, purely in the highlands

Habitat: montane evergreen and elfin forests, especially near streams; a big fan of wet, fog-covered regions.

Subspecies: none

Olive Warbler (Peucedramus taeniatus)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: semi-migratory; breeds from southern Arizona and New Mexico down to northern Nicaragua. The northern population (AZ, NM, Sinaloa, Nuevo Leon) move south for winter.

Habitat: prefers open forests heavy with pine, fir and an understory with oak.

Subspecies: 5

Wrenthrush (Zeledonia coronata), family Zeledoniidae, Panama

This is the only member of this family.

Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: migratory; breeds across the US and Mexico, though with pockets of extreme density in the Southeast US and Northwest Mexico; overwinters in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and sparsely into the rest of Central America.

Habitat: dense and shrubby vegetation, especially those found around water (though the amount of water is negligible)

Subspecies: 2

Wrenthrush (Zeledonia coronata)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident; Costa Rica to western Panama, purely in the highlands

Habitat: montane evergreen and elfin forests, especially near streams; a big fan of wet, fog-covered regions.

Subspecies: none

Wrenthrush (Anthony Batista)

This bird is a whole host of "why is it named that? its not that kind of bird!" Neither a wren (Troglodytidae), nor a thrush (Turdidae), nor is it a member of the wood-warbler family (Parulidae). In 2017, along with the host of movements and restructuring that affected a lot of varying bird families, the Wrenthrush finally got its proper sorting: It's own family, Zeledoniidae! Like many of the outlying songbird families, it can be hard to pinpoint their place in the "family tree" (or perhaps "order tree" would be a better way to describe it--). The current theory is that the Wrenthrush is likely related to Spindalidae and the Cuban Warblers (Teretistridae), as well as more distantly related to New World sparrows (Passerellidae) and New World blackbirds (Icteridae).

A new variant has been added!

Wrenthrush (Zeledonia coronata) © Henrik Grønvold

It hatches from distinctive, high, little, olive, orange, plump, short, small, strange, thin, and unmistakable eggs.

Wrenthrush (Zeledonia coronata)

© Carlos Bethancourt

Day 13 for my challenge, a Wrenthrush requested by @zeledonia!  Fun fact, it’s neither a wren or a thrush.  Birds are great.