Home
Bird Guide
Bird Cams
Bird Academy
Bird ID Skills
Feeding Birds
Bird Friendly Homes
Problems
FAQs
Biology
News & Features
Videos
Get Involved

Living Bird Magazine
Membership Services
Support the Lab

IDMerlin Bird IDMerlin Bird ID Join Us

All About Birds

Search

Browse all birds

Looking forBird ID Help?

Instant ID help for 650+ North American birds.

Try Merlin Bird ID

Recently Viewed Species

Rock Wren

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Media Player Error
Update your browser

Adult
Adult
Adult

Rock Wren by hawk person

Wrens

Rock Wren

Salpinctes obsoletus

ORDER: Passeriformes
FAMILY: Troglodytidae

HabitatDeserts
FoodInsects
NestingGround
BehaviorGround Forager
ConservationLow Concern

Basic Description

A pale gray bird of rocky areas, the Rock Wren is found throughout arid western North America.

image of range map for Rock Wren

Range map provided by Birds of North AmericaExplore Maps

Other Names

Cucarachero Roquero (Spanish)
Troglodyte des rochers (French)

Cool Facts
- The male Rock Wren is a truly remarkable singer and can have a large song repertoire of 100 or more song types, many of which seem to be learned from neighbors.
- The Rock Wren usually builds a pavement or walkway of small, flat stones or pebbles that leads to the nest cavity. The nest is usually located in a rock crevice out of sight, but the pavement may give away the nest's location. The function of this pavement is unknown.
- The Rock Wren is not known to drink water, but instead gets all it needs from its food. Even a few birds kept in captivity did not drink water when it was available.

Compare with Similar Species

Click on an image to compare

Canyon Wren is similar to Rock Wren

House Wren is similar to Rock Wren

Looking for ID Help?

Get Instant ID help for 650+ North American birds.

Try Merlin Bird ID

Species in This Family

Wrens(Order: Passeriformes, Family:Troglodytidae)

Browse Species in This Family

More to Read

eBird
Mesmerizing Migration: Watch 118 Bird Species Migrate Across a Map of the Western Hemisphere
Bird Academy
All About Feathers
6 Steps to Choosing a Pair of Binoculars You'll Love

Bird Academy
Bird Song Hero
Living Bird Magazine
They Had Feathers: Is the World Ready to See Dinosaurs as They Really Were?
Building Skills: The 4 Keys to Bird Identification

Rock Wren

Overview
ID Info
Life History
Maps
Sounds
Merlin Bird ID

Overview
What We Do
Visit the Lab
Job Opportunities
News Releases

Citizen Science

eBird
Project Feederwatch
NestWatch
Celebrate Urban Birds
Great Backyard Bird Count
Habitat Network

Lifelong Learning

Online Courses
Workshops
Bird Walks & Events
Spring Field Ornithology
BirdSleuth

Birds of North America
Clements Checklist
Neotropical Birds
State of the Birds
Annual Report
Scientific Citations
Living Bird Magazine

Bird Guide
Bird Cams
Macaulay Library
"Raven" Sound Analysis
Our Youtube Videos
FAQs

Support Our Cause

Join the Lab
Donate
Monthly Giving
Membership Services
Shop for Our Cause

Contact the Lab
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Site Credits

Copyright © 2017 Cornell University

New call-to-action

Do not show this again