Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 5.5–5.9 in
14–15 cm - Weight
- 0.5–0.6 oz
13–16 g
Other Names
- Cama brune (French)
- Camea (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- 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.
Habitat
Scrub
Coastal scrub and montane chaparral, forests with dense shrub understory.
Food
Insects
Insects, spiders, fruits, and seeds.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 1–5 eggs
- Egg Description
- Greenish blue.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless and naked, with dark, pigmented area on back.
Nest Description
Tidy open cup made of bark strips held together with insect silk, lined with soap plant or grass, placed in crotch of shrub branches.
Nest Placement
Shrub
Behavior
Foliage Gleaner
Gleans insects from twigs and bark.
Conservation
Least Concern
Common, but development of scrub can cause local extinctions.
Credits
- 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.