Bushtit

One of the most enjoyable things for me to watch this winter is when a group about a dozen busy Bushtits arrives to take control of the two seed cylinder feeders in our Aldea backyard. They love the nuts and make themselves known by chattering and exhibiting a constant frenetic movement. Their acrobatics are fun to watch and then quickly the party is over and the flock vanishes—the yard returns to silence.

On cold mornings they puff out their feathers and look like tiny gray down fluff balls as seen in some of the photos. In Aldea I have only seen the “inland race” variation with gray cap, gray body parts, and brownish ear patch. Bushtits have a long tail and a tiny bill. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is similarly-sized and I have seen gnatcatchers perching in the Honey Locust trees in summer. But the gnatcatchers I have seen traveled only in pairs and have an obvious blue-ish tail. 

Bushtits are always in groups of at least 8-10 and much more frantic. Bushtits groups can total up to 50 birds in the winter and then they pair off in the breeding season. Bushtits are a year-round resident in most of New Mexico.

Bushtits construct a hanging, woven-basket nest with a hole high up on the side of the nest and a passageway to the nest chamber at the bottom. It can be up to a foot long. The nest is generally built of spider webs, moss, lichen, and other plant material.

Five views of Bushtits. Click on photos to enlarge

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