Spot Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)

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Wrentits are small birds with fairly large, round heads and short rounded wings giving them an overall plump appearance. They have long legs and long tails, which they often hold up and away from their body at different angles. Their bills are short and slightly curved. Wrentits are plain brownish-gray with paler, slightly streaked, pale pinkish bellies. They have a distinctive pale eye. Diet and behavioral habits: This bird is fairly common year-round, living in coastal scrub and sage scrub in the canyons of Balboa Park. Wrentits feed heavily on insects, especially in spring and summer, including ants, small wasps, caterpillars, beetles, scale insects, leafhoppers, and others, plus spiders. They also eat many berries, especially in fall and winter, including those of poison oak. Nesting habits: The nest is usually well hidden by foliage in a dense low shrub, usually 1-4' above the ground, rarely above 10' in small tree. Firmly lashed into place, attached to clusters of twigs or built in fork of branch. Nest (built by both sexes) is a neatly constructed, compact cup, typically made of strips of bark and spiderwebs, lined with fine plant fibers and sometimes animal hair. Outside of nest may be decorated with bits of lichen.

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