The Inca wren is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is endemic to Peru.
Region
Andes Mountains
Typical Environment
Endemic to humid montane forests of southeastern Peru, especially the Urubamba Valley around Cusco. It favors dense stands of Chusquea bamboo along forest edges, landslides, and secondary growth. The species also uses adjacent cloud forest undergrowth and ravines where bamboo is abundant. It is locally common where suitable bamboo thickets persist, but patchy due to its habitat specialization.
Altitude Range
1600–2800 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The Inca wren is a bamboo specialist often found around Machu Picchu, making it one of the easiest Peruvian endemics for visitors to encounter. Pairs frequently perform synchronized duets, a hallmark of its genus. It skulks in dense Chusquea bamboo and can be surprisingly vocal despite its secretive habits.
Temperament
secretive but active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Usually encountered in pairs or small family groups moving through bamboo thickets. Pairs maintain territories and often engage in antiphonal duets. Nesting is in domed or globular structures hidden in dense vegetation, with both sexes participating in defense.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Loud, musical duets of clear whistles and trills delivered antiphonally by the pair. Calls include sharp chips and scolds when alarmed, carrying well through bamboo stands.
Plumage
Rich rufous upperparts with a boldly patterned head; white throat and upper chest with fine black spotting or speckling. Tail and wings show dark barring; underparts are buffy to rufous on flanks with paler belly.
Diet
Primarily small insects and other arthropods gleaned from bamboo culms, leaves, and tangles. It probes crevices and dead leaf sheaths, and occasionally takes small spiders and larvae. Rarely, it may add small fruits or seeds when invertebrate prey is scarce.
Preferred Environment
Dense Chusquea bamboo and adjacent understory layers in humid montane forest and edges. Often forages near the ground to mid-levels within tangled vegetation and along landslide regrowth.
