Scientific Name: Salpinctes obsoletus

Residency: Year-round throughout Arizona.

Diet: Insects and spiders.

Predators:  American Kestrel, antelope ground squirrel, and snakes such as the racer.

Nesting: The nest is usually found in sheltered sites such as in between boulders, cracks, crevices, gopher burrows, steep banks of washes, and in the cracks of brick and adobe buildings. The nest is built out of weeds, grasses, twigs, and bark; it is lined with softer materials such as feathers and hair. Four to eight brown speckled eggs are laid.

Nesting records:

Notes: This bird is currently widespread and common throughout most of its range, because much of its habitat is largely unaffected by human activity. However, livestock grazing near nesting Rock Wrens is thought to be responsible for an increase of parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds, and may eventually prove a threat to this species.

Photo: Taken at Coon Bluff on January 7, 2007. For more photos, click on camera icon.