Wrentit, Chamaea fasciata
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![]() The Wrentit is a local favorite, the "troubador of the chaparral," with birds of both sexes giving a liquid ping-pong-ball song all year round as they skulk in the thick brush and low trees found on dry Pacific Coast hillsides. Wrentits are more often heard than seen, and more easily seen than photographed, with unobstructed views difficult to come by. Despite the name, the bird is not closely related either to the wrens or the chickadees and titmice, but rather (alone among New World species) is classified with the babblers and Old World warblers. The bird shown above is in fresh plumage in fall; the one below, in late spring, is substantially worn. | |
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![]() The bird shown above and below has very worn plumage at the end of summer; likewise the two birds below this one. |
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![]() Above and below, Wrentits feeding on the same persimmon tree in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in December 2013 and 2015 respectively. | |
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