End-of-the-day treat

  

A Bushtit for you!  This one was searching for prey among the moss, bark, and leaves on a tree in the Oliver's parking lot in Cotati. 

Splish, splash!

  

Today's rain filled our bird bath...and then a flock of Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) came by and enjoyed a bath.  Bushtits seem to do everything together, so there was lots of splashing!  

Most of the time, foraging Bushtit flocks move through our yard fairly quickly, so it was nice to see them pause, if only for a minute, and enjoying the rain.

 

Golden-fronted and golden-bellied

 

 

I encountered a small flock of Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) in a willow thicket in the late afternoon today (20 February 2023).  They were so covered in pollen that at first glance I thought they might be warblers!

 

Here's another individual:

 

 

 

 

And the Bushtits weren't the only ones — here's a Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) dusted with so much pollen that its belly is golden:

 

 

 

Peering down

 Had to work late tonight, but here's a Bushtit for you:

 

 

They did it!

Congratulations to the Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) that nested in our neighbor's tree!  You might recall that I wrote about them building a nest in March ("Nest building" on 19 March 2020) and feeding young in early May ("A mouthful" on 4 May 2020).

Tonight I heard begging calls in the backyard and was suspicious that the Bushtits might have fledged.  We went out and saw the adults feeding at least four juveniles.

The young Bushtits are paler than the adults, and very fluffy looking.  Here are a few of my favorite shots:

 

 

 

 

Note the gray iris of the bird in the photo above...indicating this is a young female. 

 

Pretty darn cute, aren't they?

We felt lucky to observe this family's success from our backyard.

 

A mouthful

Back in March, I mentioned that I had located a Bushtit nest in a neighbor's yard — see the post called "Nest building" on 19 March 2020.

The Bushtits have been actively foraging in our yard, so I went out to see if I could snap a few pictures of them bringing food to the nest.

Sure enough, both the male (dark eyes) and female (pale eyes) were arriving with bills overflowing with insects.  Here are a few examples:

 

 

 

 

A few fun facts about Bushtit nesting behavior: (1) Their eggs are tiny, only ~13.7 mm x 10 mm; (2) their average clutch size (number of eggs in the nest) is ~6 (range from ~4-10); (3) the incubation period is ~12-13 days; (4) and the time to fledging (when the young leave the nest) is ~18 days.

Bushtits are primarily foliage gleaners, snatching invertebrates off of leaves and branches.  They're known to feed their young lots of caterpillars, along with beetles, wasps, bugs, and spiders.  Good job, everyone!

 

Nest building

During the last couple of days while working near a window that provides a view of our backyard, some Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) behavior caught my eye.  The Bushtits weren't coming to the water bath, and it didn't look like they were searching for food.  My guess was that they were gathering nesting material, e.g, bits of bark and lichens.  

I kept an eye on their flight direction.  Eventually, after several tries, I spotted the nest in a neighbor's yard:

 

Bushtits build a long, pendulous nest, primarily of plant materials.  (This one has some strips of white, human-made material, too.)  You can see the small entrance near the top.

I watched for a little while, but didn't see any Bushtits near the nest.  I went back to work, but then heard the Bushtits calling, so went out to check again.  They were very busy for a few minutes, so I took a few photos from a distance:

 

 

 

I hope the Bushtits continue building their nest.  I really appreciate an occasional backyard wildlife distraction right now!

 

Along the creek

Whew, it's been a hectic few days.  I'm so sorry that so many people in Sonoma County are having such a difficult time right now.  Yesterday (27 October 2019) we evacuated due to wildfire concerns and drove to Davis, CA.  Today I went for a short walk in the UC Davis Arboretum.  I've been on edge since the fire started, but walking today helped a lot.  I finally felt like I could take a deeper breath.

With the hope that some nice photos will help other people, too, here are a few images from Putah Creek this afternoon:

 

 Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

 

 Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

 

 Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

 

 Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

P.S.  A world of thanks to all of the firefighters and the incredible team of people who have been working so hard to fight the Kincade Fire and to coordinate and communicate with everyone in the community.  Our appreciation is hard to express.

 

Late afternoon baths

We haven't spent much time outside lately because of the wildfire smoke and poor air quality, but at times there have been quite a few birds visiting the water bath in our yard.  Here's a sampler (photos taken through the kitchen window on 17 November 2018).  [Click in the images for larger versions.]

 

Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

Townsend's Warbler (Setophaga townsendi)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

 

Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)

A black mask

I'm looking for a little help with this one.  I photographed a Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) in our backyard tonight (28 June 2017).  It was unusual in that it had a black mask — black lores (between the bill and eye) and a black auricular area (behind the eye).  

I know that Bushtits in the southern part of their range (southwest U.S., Mexico, Central America) can have dark masks like this, but I haven't seen one with this coloration in California yet.

Here's the photo:

 

Have you seen or heard of Bushtits with this type of coloration in California?  How common is it?  Any information would be greatly appreciated. 

P.S.  To compare with other photos of Bushtits, here are links to a few older posts:

"Tiny" on 30 December 2016

"Down Jacket" on 8 October 2015

 "That's it!" on 26 August 2013

"The whites of her eyes" on 3 February 2012

Tiny

 

Male Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

 

Female Bushtit — note the paler eye color. 

 

Bushtit in Coyote Brush — a rare moment perched in the open!

 

Bushtit foraging in a lupine. 

P.S.  Bushtits are tiny — only about 3 inches (7.5 cm) long, with about half of that being the tail.

P.P.S.  For a little more information about Bushtits, review these previous posts: "The whites of her eyes" and "That's it!"

Down jacket

 

Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), in the early morning near Mammoth Lakes, CA, on 8 October 2015

:)

That's it!

 

I really like Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus).  I can't quite explain what it is about them, but there's something inside of me that just feels right whenever I hear their twittering call notes or see flocks of these tiny songbirds moving among the trees or shrubs. 

Bushtits are very active and often hidden by vegetation, so it's hard to get a good look at them and even harder to photograph them.

Here's a typical view of one peering out among the needles of a pine.  These photographs were taken along Old Bay Flat Road near the north end of Bodega Harbor on 25 August 2013.

 

In reading about their behavior, I was struck by the different approaches in the Birds of North America account (2001) and Bent's Life Histories of North American Birds (1942):

From the BNA:  "Individuals in flocks or small groups remain in a cohesive group while moving and foraging, maintaining auditory contact with soft calls."

From Bent:  "The flock is somewhat scattered, and one cannot tell at first how many birds there are in the company, but they keep in touch with one another as they feed, with gentle twittering notes. They seem to be in constant motion as they travel along, hurriedly crossing the open spaces between the bushes, a few at a time, then more and more, all traveling in the same general direction; when 20 or 30 have crossed, and we think that all have gone, there are always a few stragglers hurrying along to catch up with the procession."

Both of these approaches have value.  The BNA account is short and to the point.  But the description in Bent is exactly what I experience with Bushtits in the field, and it's fun when you feel that someone else has described a species really well.  When I read the BNA account I said, "True."  But when I read the Bent account I said, "Yes!  That's it!  That's exactly what Bushtits do!"

Below, one Bushtit paused long enough on a branch for a nice profile.  (That's a strand of spider web silk crossing through the image.)  This picture made me appreciate the long toes of a Bushtit and how important they probably are to these birds that are such a meaningful part of the California landscape.

 

P.S.   For a little more information about Bushtits, see the post from 3 February 2012.

The whites of her eyes

This is one of my favorite year-round residents of Bodega Head — the Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus).  There are so many interesting things about Bushtits that it's difficult to choose what to share in a short post.  Here are a few fun facts about them interspersed between photos taken on 2 February 2012.

- Bushtits are the only New World representative of the Long-tailed Tit Family; their ancestors are thought to have crossed the Bering land bridge 10-12 million years ago

- Adults are sexually dimorphic (males and females appear physically different from each other) —  Bushtit males have dark eyes and females have white eyes (you can practice identifying males/females by their iris colors in the photos below)

 

 The subspecies present in our area has a subtle brown crown.

 

Below, look at the extremely long toes (ideal for hanging from leaves and small branches)!  Also note the slightly decurved (downward curved) bill.

 - Bushtits are foliage-gleaning specialists — gathering spiders and small insects from vegetation, often feeding while hanging upside down

 

 - Bushtits build complicated, pendulous gourd-shaped nests with a small opening

 - They're one of the first birds in which nest supernumeraries (there's that word again!) were described — helpers at the nest beyond the breeding pair (although this behavior is apparently not as common in California)

- In colder parts of their range, individuals huddle together for warmth (up to 14 individuals have been found in one nest!)