Bushtits from BirdNote - When These Little Birds Pair Up, You Know Spring Is On Its Way...

I love the companionship of little birds in winter, like this flock of Bushtits on a suet feeder. Birds bring the garden alive and connect us with the natural world in this season when we're indoors too much....and remind us our gardens are their own  ecosystems, of value to species besides ourselves...

Ellen Blackstone of BirdNote writes "Okay, full disclosure....Bushtits are some of my favorite birds...they're endlessly amusing." Wouldn't the wild wind we've had lately blow these little birds to smithereens? I saw a flock of at least 20 Bushtits this morning, and they looked sturdy, hardy, and perfectly content despite the windy weather...

Ellen suggests adding a little suet to your backyard bird banquet, and you will probably be visited by Bushtits. They may travel in large flocks now, but when you start seeing just two Bushtits at a time, you can be sure spring is on the way. These feathery little romantics pair off in spring to prepare for nesting season.

Birds seem to be the eccentrics of the natural world....every kind of bird seems to have some curiousity about it. With Bushtits, it's  their surprisingly large and complex, bag-like nests, unexpected for such tiny birds. Ellen sends us a a funny story about a Bushtit searching for nesting material; it came from a BirdNote listener in Seattle. Don't you love birders? I'm afraid I'm getting to be one myself - not the kind that records and studies, but maybe more of a bird appreciator....

Photos courtesy of Mike Hamilton..

A fierce-looking female Bushtit - can you see the distinctive yellow ring in her eye?

And a male with his solid black eye

 

Comments

[Karen]

Good information about this little bird! I have never seen one, but maybe I haven't known what it was. Good photos for identification and interesting facts.

[Christina Wilsdon]

Love these little birds. Up til this year we've had tons at our suet feeders, but unfortunately English house sparrows have returned to our yard, and the bushtits don't seem to enjoy sharing the feeder space with them, even though the sparrows don't eat the suet.

[Ellen Blackstone, BirdNote]

What kind of seed are you offering, Christina? Black oil sunflower seed will appeal to chickadees, nuthatches, etc., but not so much to House Sparrows. Consider changing seed, or perhaps moving the seed feeder farther away from the suet feeder. Good luck!

[Chris]

I too love these little guys...(except their name):)I really love their little peeping calls they make when they all land together...it's like they're so excited and happy to find a food source they have to sing and talk about it to one another!

[DariaW]

They are the quintessential LGB (little grey bird), yes? I live in the country and don't see them much; nothing like when I lived in town. Their nests are evidence that they're around. A winter or two ago, after a snowfall, I noticed that one of their nests was woven through and through with strands from the ubiquitous blue tarps. Until the snow background,it hadn't been particularly visible. It was even clearer with the zoom on the camera.