Wrentit

Chamaea fasciata

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family TIMALIIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A common bird of the Pacific Coast chaparral, the Wrentit can be difficult to see as it skulks through the dense scrub. It is the only American representative of the mostly Asian family of babblers (Timaliidae).

Cool Facts

• The Wrentit used to be considered the sole member of the family Chamaeidae, but genetic studies show that it is the only American representative of the large Old World family of babblers, Timaliidae.
• Wrentit pairs mate for life, and may be together for more than 12 years. Both sexes incubate and sing to defend the territory.

• The Wrentit may be the most sedentary bird species in north America, with an average dispersal distance from natal nest to breeding spot of about 400 m (1300 ft).

• Wrentits along the coast and in the more humid areas of the north tend to be darker than individuals living in drier and more interior parts of the range.

Description

• Size: 14-15 cm (6-6 in)
• Weight: 13-16 g (0.46-0.56 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Dull, grayish brown.
• Long tail.
• White eyes.
• Small bill.

• Wings short and rounded.
• Tail often help up at an angle.
• Faint pale eyestripe.
• Throat and breast vaguely streaked.
• Eyes with darker outer rim and white inner area.
• Bill slightly curved and horn-colored.
• Legs brownish horn-colored.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Immature

Similar to adult.

Similar Species

• Bushtit is smaller and more slender, travels in flocks, and does not hide so persistently.

Sound

Song a series of sharp whistled "pit" notes, repeated on the same pitch and occurring more rapidly, followed by descending trill. Call a rattling "churr."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident along coast and mountains from northern Oregon to Baja California.

Habitat

Coastal scrub and montane chaparral, forests with dense shrub understory.

Food

Insects, spiders, fruits, and seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects from twigs and bark.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Tidy open cup made of bark strips held together with insect silk, lined with soap plant or grass, placed in crotch of shrub branches.

Egg Description

Greenish blue.

Clutch Size

Usually 3-4 eggs. Range: 1-5.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and naked, with dark, pigmented area on back.

Conservation Status

Common, but development of scrub can cause local extinctions.

Other Names

Cama brune (French)
Camea (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Geupel, G. R., and G. Ballard. 2002. Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata). In The Birds of North America, No. 654 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.