Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Wrentit for a Day

Once in a while I write paeans to a certain species of bird. This time I chose the quaint Wrentit. Quaint, because it is neither a Wren nor a Tit - although it exhibits certain characteristics of both species. Quaint, because it is the only member of the Babbler family (Timaliidae) to be found in the New World. Not only that, its range is confined to the Pacific coast - from southern Washington State to northern Baja California.

It is a pretty nondescript bird decked in browish plumage and it is more often heard -with its "bouncing-ball" song - than seen as it hunts for insects in dense underbrush. Its long tail is almost always cocked and the pale iris gives the bird a fierce look. Which is indicative of its audacity and apparent fearlessness of human beings. I had many encounters with Wrentits where they would come to within an arms length and seemed unperturbed by my presence even while pointing a menacing looking object like a camera with a long lens at them.

The bold, out-of-place, drab Wrentit is definitely worthy of being my bird of the day.






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8 comments:

Johnny Nutcase said...

Ah yes, the Wrentit! That's a great photo of him...they are SO hyper making them tough to photograph. Like the write up about the little guy too :)

mick said...

Don't worry about its coloring - it obviously has a personality to make up for all that. Nice photo!

BirdingMaine said...

Nice photo! Would be a life bird for me.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year 2010!

John
Birding in Maine

NatureFootstep said...

Thanks for the description of the bird. It Seems to be a nice encounter.

Wish you a merry Christmas :)

eileeninmd said...

Great post and photo of the wrentit. It would be a new bird for me.

Kelly said...

...he is a cutie and would be a life bird for me! We don't have them here in Cincy. Lovely photo!

Anonymous said...

Very cute! I'd love to see one in the wild myself.

Unknown said...

What a fierce little face.
The face has something of a hawk :)
What a wonderful birdie!