Listen to the rock wren
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the rock wren
The rock wren is a bird in the family Troglodytidae (order Passeriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults weigh around 16 g.
What does the rock wren sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
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.
More from the family Troglodytidae
Eurasian wren
Troglodytes troglodytes
Northern house wren
Troglodytes aedon
Marsh wren
Cistothorus palustris
Carolina wren
Thryothorus ludovicianus
Bewick's wren
Thryomanes bewickii
Musician wren
Cyphorhinus arada
Grey-mantled wren
Odontorchilus branickii
Band-backed wren
Campylorhynchus zonatus
Southern nightingale-wren
Microcerculus marginatus
Buff-breasted wren
Cantorchilus leucotis
Song wren
Cyphorhinus phaeocephalus
Wing-banded wren
Microcerculus bambla
Frequently asked questions
What does a rock wren sound like?
You can hear 1 recording of the rock wren on this page, including its call. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the rock wren endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the rock wren as “least concern”.
What family does the rock wren belong to?
The rock wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) belongs to the family Troglodytidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Lassen County, California, United States by radrat – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q935880 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Rock wren – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Wolfgang Wander – CC BY-SA 3.0