THO MEMBERS of this family have some Titmice characteristics, they are more closely allied to the Wrens, in plumage, manners and voice. First acquaintance is almost sure to come by ear as these remarkable birds are much more likely to be heard than seen. In dry plains and shrub-covered hillsides of the west Sierra Nevadas it is a common species where the first indication of its presence is a series of grating, harsh notes resembling the scolding repertoire of Wrens.
A combination of patience, sun endurance and quiet will arouse the bird's curiosity to a point where he will emerge from the brush and look you over. This inspection may be accompanied by a regular Chickadee intoned te-te-te-tee given with tail at about an angle of 45 degrees.
In Spring the males answer each other in a curiously distinctive chit-chit-chit followed with a prolonged trill, not unlike a Chipping Sparrow's tinkling and repeated with the same insistency. So solitary are the surroundings that any sound is welcome and the cheerful pipings do not become monotonous with their clear, bell-like descending scale.
Upper Sonoran zone on eastern and southern shores of San Francisco bay and adjacent Santa Clara valley.