Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus plumbeus. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, April 2011. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).
Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus plumbeus. Photograph taken within the Reserva Monte Mojino, Alamos, Sonora, May 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.
Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus minimus. Photographs taken in the greater Santa Barbara area, Santa Barbara, California, September 2021. Photographs courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.
Background and Identification
The Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus plumbeus and Psalatriparus minimus minimus are two subspecies of Bushtit, seven of which are found in Mexico. The Bushtit is a member of the Aegithalidae Family of Long-tailed Tits. This is the only global member of the Psaltriparus Genus. Bushtits are insectivores, foraging on insects and spiders. This energetic songbird is know for its small size and unique social behaviors. They are known to have outside visitors inhabit their nests. When it comes to breeding, they are polygynous, polyandrous and polygynandrous. This means that some of the outside males mate with the resident females and some of the outside females mate with the resident males. Due to their breeding behaviors, they are often studied. They have life spans of up to nine years and are known in Mexico as Sastrecito Común.
The Bushtit is a tiny drab bird with short wings and a long tail. The sexes are similar in appearance, called sexual monomorphism in the scientific community. Plumage between males and females can vary slightly, and females usually have a lighter iris. Females also develop a brood patch during the breeding season. A brood patch is an area without feathers, either on the abdomen or chest of a bird that allows for better incubation of eggs. Both sexes are a uniform plain gray color but vary in appearance depending on the subspecies and geographical range. Some individuals have black ear coverts, and others do not. Their bill is small, decurved, and black, and their legs are long and black.
Habitat and Geographical Range
Bushtits prefer pine-oak woodlands in mountainous and shrub vegetation in coastal areas and arid environments at elevations up to 3,500 m (11,500 feet). They are known to move to higher elevations during nonbreeding season, this is called altitudinal migration. They are fearless of humans and quickly adapt to suburban areas.
The Bushtit is a non-migratory, resident bird often found in flocks of three to forty conspecific or mixed-species flocks. Conspecific individuals are birds of the same species. Geographically, Bushtits are distributed across western North America, from British Columbia in Canada through the western United States and into central Mexico. In Mexico, this species has a very wide range. Some areas it inhabits include Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Veracruz. The minimus subspecies is found in the western United States. The plumbeus subspecies is found in northern Sonora and northwest Chihuahua.
Common Misidentifications
The Bushtit is similar in stature and could be easily confused with the Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps. This species has a long sharp bill and a yellow head, differentiating it from the grayish head of the Bishtit. Another possible confusion is with the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, which also inhabits similar environments. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, however, has a more bluish-gray coloration, a white eye ring, and a longer, more expressive tail.
Conservation Status
From a conservation perspective the Bushtit is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Conservation efforts for Bushtits are ongoing and primarily involve preserving their natural habitats and maintaining healthy shrubland and woodland ecosystems.