Munchique Wood-Wren

The Munchique wood wren is 10.8 to 11.7 cm (4.3 to 4.6 in) long and weighs 15.2 to 16.7 g (0.54 to 0.59 oz). The adult has a dark brown crown with blackish marks, a thin white supercilium, a dull black line from the lores through the eye, and blackish cheeks with whitish mottling. Its upperparts are a slightly brighter brown than the crown and its tail is brown with black bars. The throat is white, streaked with black at its lower edge. The breast is medium gray, the belly a lighter gray, and the flanks and vent area brown. The abdomen and flanks have dark gray to black bars. The juvenile is much darker than the adult and does not have the abdominal barring.

The Munchique wood wren is found on the Pacific slope of Colombia's Western Andes. It is known from only a few areas, the Munchique Massif in Cauca Department; in the region where the departments of Chocó, Antioquia, and Risaralda meet; in the area where extreme eastern Chocó and southwestern Antioquia meet; and a very small area in extreme southeastern Chocó. The Munchiqe wood wren appears to have very specific habitat requirements. It inhabits very wet and stunted cloud forest, typically with many epiphytes, that is almost continuously in fog. In elevation it ranges from 2,250 to 2,640 m (7,380 to 8,660 ft).

The Munchique wood wren forages low in vegetation, typically below 2 m (6.6 ft) above the ground but occasionally up to 4 m (13 ft). It may briefly associate with mixed-species foraging flocks that enter its territory but does not follow them. The stomach contents of specimens contained beetles, flies, and other arthropods.