Home
Bird Guide
Bird Cams
Bird Academy
Bird ID Skills
Feeding Birds
Bird Friendly Homes
Problems
FAQs
Biology
News & Features
Videos
Get Involved

Living Bird Magazine
Membership Services
Support the Lab

IDMerlin Bird IDMerlin Bird ID Join Us

All About Birds

Search

Browse all birds

Looking forBird ID Help?

Instant ID help for 650+ North American birds.

Try Merlin Bird ID

Recently Viewed Species

Wrentit Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
California, June 06, 2005Recorded by Curtis Marantz | Macaulay Library
Calls
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
California, May 05, 1988Recorded by Thomas G. Sander | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

Wrentits sing a distinctive song reminiscent of a ball bouncing that lasts for about 4 seconds. In males this starts out as 3 to 5 pits followed by an accelerating trill; the ball bounces away. Females also sing but they catch the ball and sing only 3 to 14 pits without the accelerating trill. Both sexes sing at all hours of the day, all year long, although they are more vocal within the first hour after sunrise and early in the breeding season.

Calls

Wrentits give a churring call which sounds similar to someone rolling their r's. Wrentits give louder more emphatic calls when scolding a predator or intruder.

Compare with Similar Species

Click on an image to compare

Bushtit Male (Pacific) is similar to Wrentit

Oak Titmouse Adult/immature is similar to Wrentit

Looking for ID Help?

Get Instant ID help for 650+ North American birds.

Try Merlin Bird ID

More to Read

Bird Academy
Bird Song Hero
Why Birds Hit Windows—and How You Can Help Prevent It
Project FeederWatch
Tricky Bird IDs

Living Bird Magazine
In Colombia, Shade-Grown Coffee Sustains Songbirds and People Alike
Living Bird Magazine
Analysis: The Economic Value of Birds
Building Skills: The 4 Keys to Bird Identification

Wrentit

Overview
ID Info
Life History
Maps
Sounds
Merlin Bird ID

Overview
What We Do
Visit the Lab
Job Opportunities
News Releases

Citizen Science

eBird
Project Feederwatch
NestWatch
Celebrate Urban Birds
Great Backyard Bird Count
Habitat Network

Lifelong Learning

Online Courses
Workshops
Bird Walks & Events
Spring Field Ornithology
BirdSleuth

Birds of North America
Clements Checklist
Neotropical Birds
State of the Birds
Annual Report
Scientific Citations
Living Bird Magazine

Bird Guide
Bird Cams
Macaulay Library
"Raven" Sound Analysis
Our Youtube Videos
FAQs

Support Our Cause

Join the Lab
Donate
Monthly Giving
Membership Services
Shop for Our Cause

Contact the Lab
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Site Credits

Copyright © 2017 Cornell University

New call-to-action

Do not show this again