Hi all, I have a bird ID
first, I sincerely apologize that there is no photo to go along with my question
but I hope my description can be thorough enough.
I hike a lot in the chaparral in California's Bay Area, specifically the Santa Cruz Mountains. There is one type of bird that really tends to hang out near trails, in the grass or on the lower branches of the shrubs. And they are virtually invisible, and then when you get near them, they all lift and fly away in unison, and it creates a loud whir that really startles you when hiking. Not the quails, which can do this too -- a much smaller bird that tends to hang out in larger groups of 4 to 10. Any idea which I'm talking about?
I've looked at some chaparral bird lists, and most of the small ones seem to fall under the wren category. Does this sound a wren? Or am I describing a gnatcatcher? Or am I literally describing all the small chaparral birds, haha.
first, I sincerely apologize that there is no photo to go along with my question
but I hope my description can be thorough enough.I hike a lot in the chaparral in California's Bay Area, specifically the Santa Cruz Mountains. There is one type of bird that really tends to hang out near trails, in the grass or on the lower branches of the shrubs. And they are virtually invisible, and then when you get near them, they all lift and fly away in unison, and it creates a loud whir that really startles you when hiking. Not the quails, which can do this too -- a much smaller bird that tends to hang out in larger groups of 4 to 10. Any idea which I'm talking about?
I've looked at some chaparral bird lists, and most of the small ones seem to fall under the wren category. Does this sound a wren? Or am I describing a gnatcatcher? Or am I literally describing all the small chaparral birds, haha.
