American bushtit

American bushtit
In Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Song of the P. minimus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Aegithalidae
Genus:	Psaltriparus Bonaparte, 1850
Species:	P. minimus
Binomial name
Psaltriparus minimus (Townsend, 1837)

The American bushtit or simply bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) is a social

There are 10 subspecies recognized:^[8]

The subspecies P. m. melanotis was previously considered as a separate species due to their black ears.^[10]

Description

With a length of 4.3 inches and a weight of 0.18-0.21 ounces, the American Bushtit is one of the smallest passerines in North America. It is mostly gray-brown in color, with a large head, short neck, long tail, and small, stubby beak. Moreover, bushtits have different characteristics based on their sex and habitats. The male has dark brown to black eyes while the adult female has yellow eyes. Additionally, bushtits who stay near the coast tend to have a brown "cap" or "crowns," while those further inland have a brown "mask" on their faces.^{[citation needed]}

The subspecies (P. m. melanotis) can be recognized from its dark ear patch, called the

Identifications

Identification	Description
Male (Pacific)	Tiny with a chubby appearance, large head, a lengthy tail, and a compact bill. Their feathers are predominantly plain shades of brown and gray, though the specific plumage colors differ based on their geographic location.
Male (Interior)	Tiny with a long tail and short bill. They display a lighter shade of gray with gray crowns and tan cheeks, whereas those residing near the coast exhibit brown crowns.
Male (Melanotis group)	Males in southwest Texas to Mexico have a black mask and display a shade of brown. The mask color tends to get darker as a bushtit moves further south.
Female (Pacific)	Tiny like a ping-pong ball with long tail and pale eyes.
Female (Interior)	They display grayer crowns and brown cheeks with pale eyes.
Female (Melanotis group)	Females in southwest Texas to Mexico have a brown mask and display a shade of light brown. The mask color tends to become darker as a bushtit moves further south.

Behavior

lowlands and foothills of California, southern Mexico, and Guatemala.^{[citation needed}

]

Regarding its behavior, the American bushtit has an active and social demeanor.^[

mixed-species environment. Group members frequently communicate with one another through what might be called brief spit calls.^{[citation needed}

]

Nesting

Both the males and females work together to construct the hanging nest, which can take up to a month to complete. The nest features a hole near the top that goes down into the nest bowl, and it hangs up to a foot below its anchor point. Using spider webs and plant material, the adults create an elastic sac. Occasionally, they sit inside the nest while it's still being built, which stretches it downward. They cover the outside with fragments of adjacent plants, including the tree the nest is made in, and add insulating materials like feathers, fur, and downy plant debris. All the adults connected to the nest, including the breeding pair and helpers, sleep there when it's in use.Typically, the couple uses the same nest for their second brood of the year. Regarding its placement, the male and female hang spiderwebs from mistletoe or other foliage to test-sites for their nests. Nest locations are typically found on tree trunks or branches, ranging in height from three to one hundred feet.[12]

Breeding

Female Bushtits lay plain white oval

chicks hatch, both the male and female Bushtits coorperate to feed and care for them for 14–18 days. They can raise 1-2 broods a year, and older siblings from the first brood may assist in feeding the next.^[12][13]

During the

breeding season, male and female Bushtits form pairs, actively participate in nest-building, and both engage in rearing the young. They are aided by other adult males who bring food to the nesting pair's nest.^[14] Remarkably, during this time, the entire Bushtit family sleeps together in their large, hanging nest, unlike most breeding birds where only one adult typically sleeps on the nest at a time. After the young birds fledge, they move to sleeping on branches.^[12]

However, Bushtits can be sensitive during the breeding process.^[13] If there are disturbances in the early nesting stages, they may abandon their nesting attempt and potentially seek a different mate.^[12]

Gallery

• 
  Nest
• 
  Nest
• 
  Nest
• 
  Pleasanton, California

References

1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22712028A132100477.en
   . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. ^ ^{a b} Townsend, John Kirk (1837). "Description of twelve new species of birds, chiefly from the vicinity of the Columbia River". Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 7: 187-192 [190].
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Bushtit Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
4. ^ "Bushtit". www.oiseaux-birds.com. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
5. ^ "Tiny Birds Crowd the Bath | Outside My Window". 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
6. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 59.
7. ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1850). "Sur deux espèce nouvelles de Paridae". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 31: 478–479 [478].
8. ^
   Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Bushtits, leaf warblers, reed warblers"
   . IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
9. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
   .
10. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 61.
11. doi:10.2307/4083332
    . Retrieved 2023-10-22.
12. ^ ^{a b c d} "Bushtit Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
13. ^ ^{a b} "Bushtit Fact Sheet". The Spruce. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
14. ^ Bird, Alex (2019-01-24). "Bushtit". Bird Watching Academy. Retrieved 2023-10-22.

Further reading

• Skutch, Alexander F. (1960). "Black-eared bush-tit" (PDF). Life Histories of Central American Birds II. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 34. Berkeley, California: Cooper Ornithological Society. pp. 211–225.
• Sloane, Sarah A. (1996). "Incidence and origins of nest supernumeraries at Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) nests". Auk. 113: 757–770.
  JSTOR 4088855
  .
• Howell, Steve N. G.; Sophie Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 0-19-854012-4
  .
• ISBN 0-679-45122-6
  .
• Sloane, S.A. (2001). Bushtit. In Birds of North America, A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, F. Gill, Eds. Philadelphia: American Ornithologists Union.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bushtit.

Wikispecies has information related to Psaltriparus minimus.

• Bushtit species account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• "Bushtit media".
  Internet Bird Collection
  .
• Bushtit photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Interactive range map of Psaltriparus minimus at IUCN Red List maps