#zeledoniidae

Rose-breasted Chat (Granatellus pelzelni)

IUCN Rating: Least Concern

Range: resident; central Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, as well as much of central Brazil

Habitat: tropical rainforests and their edges, but also tolerates drier deciduous forest; typically by rivers or lagoons at their interior

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 (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).

Wrenthrush (Zeledonia coronata)

© Carlos Bethancourt