Yucatán Wren

The adult Yucatan wren is a small species about 18 centimetres (7 in) long. The face is whitish with a dark eye-stripe, and the crown is greyish brown. The upper parts are brown streaked with black and white, and the wings are brown and barred with dark brown and white. The tail is black barred with grey, with white tips to some of the outer feathers. The underparts are whitish with a dark cheek stripe and blackish spotting and barring. The juvenile is similar in appearance to the adult but with less contrast between the upper and underparts.

The Yucatan wren is endemic to a coastal strip of the Yucatan peninsula. It can be found in arid areas with scrub, large cacti, and pastureland edges. Its breeding range is even more restricted to a strip about one kilometre wide, edging the mangrove forests which fringe the coast.

The Yucatan wren is usually seen in pairs or small family groups and forages among the foliage and on the ground. Its diet is unknown. The Yucatan wren starts nest-building activities in April, but eggs are laid in June. The nests are globular grass structures with side entrances. They are built a few metres off the ground in coastal scrub and the borders of the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) forest, which thrives along the region's coasts. Clutch size averages three eggs, and both parents help rear the chicks. A third adult has been observed feeding the chicks occasionally, an example of cooperative breeding.