Table of Contents
Overview
Distribution
Geographic Range
The Bushtit lives throughout the western coast of the North American continent. It ranges from southern Canada to Central America.(Harwood,1982)
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
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National Distribution
Canada
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
United States
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
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Global Range: RESIDENT: coastal ranges from southwestern British Columbia south to southern Baja California, in interior from southern and southeastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho, north-central Utah, western Colorado, western Oklahoma, and central Texas, south into Mexico and Guatemala (Terres 1980).
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The Bushtit is a small grayish bird with a long tail. Depending on where you see these birds, their facial colors and features differ. Most have brown caps. In the Rocky Mountain area it has a gray cap and brown cheeks. (Harwood, 1982)
Average mass: 5.5 g.
Average mass: 5.5 g.
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.122375 W.
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Size
Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
These birds live from woodland to drier areas in the Arizona region. Bushtits are normally found in pinyon-juniper habitats and near wooded riverbeds. This bird is also found in tree-lined riverbanks, hillside aspen groves, sagebrush, and mountain-mahogany forests. (Fisher, 2000)
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; mountains
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Comments: Woodlands and scrub habitat with scattered trees and shrubs. Brushy streamsides, pinyon-juniper, chaparral and pine-oak associations. May be found up to 1800-2500 m in southern Rocky Mtns. Found in trees and shrubs in residential areas. BREEDING: Gourd-shaped nest is suspended from twigs 1-15 m above ground in a tree or shrub.
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Migration
Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
The Bushtit feeds on insects and spiders that live in surrounding shrubs and trees in its habitat. It also feeds on small seeds from fruits.(Fisher,2000)
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Comments: Feeds primarily on spiders and insects (aphids, leafhoppers, scale insects, beetles, wasps, ants, caterpillars, etc.) also eats some fruit. Gleans prey from foliage while flitting about trees and shrubs. May forage in loose flocks.
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General Ecology
In winter often found in mixed species flocks (with kiglets, wrens, chickadees) that may number 20-50 birds. Pairs begin to separate from flocks in January-February.
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 101 months.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Reproduction
The nest of the Bushtit is made from wool, lichens, roots and twigs. The nest hangs from a tree or bush. Within the nest are two to seven white eggs. The incubation period for the eggs is about twelve days. (Fisher, 2000)
Average time to hatching: 12 days.
Average eggs per season: 6.
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Clutch size usually 5-7, sometimes as many as 15. Incubation 12-13 days. Nestlings altricial, tended by both parents, leave nest in 14-15 days.
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Psaltriparus minimus
There are 6 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
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Download FASTA File
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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Psaltriparus minimus
Public Records: 6
Species: 17
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 2008Least Concern
- 2004Least Concern
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Conservation Status
The Bushtit, with few natural predators, flourishes in its natural habitat and has no need for extensive preservation. (Fisher, 2000)
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
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National NatureServe Conservation Status
Canada
Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure
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NatureServe Conservation Status
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
As a song bird, the Bushtit is favored on the west coast of the North American continent for its enjoyable song. Since their diet includes insects, they eat certain insects that could be pests to humans. (eNature.com, 2000)
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Wikipedia
Bushtit
The American Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) is the only species in the family Aegithalidae found in the New World, and the only member of the genus Psaltriparus.
The American Bushtit inhabits mixed open woodlands, often containing oaks and a scrubby chaparral understory ; it also inhabits parks and gardens. It is a year-round resident of the western United States and highland parts of Mexico, ranging from Vancouver through the Great Basin and the lowlands and foothills of California to southern Mexico and Guatemala.
The American Bushtit is one of the smallest passerines in North America, at 11 cm in length and 5-6 gms in weight. It is gray-brown overall, with a large head, a short neck, a long tail, and a short stubby bill. The male has dark eyes and the adult female, yellow. Coastal forms have a brown "cap" while those in the interior have brown "mask."
The American Bushtit is active and gregarious, foraging for small insects and spiders in mixed-species feeding flocks containing species such as chickadees and warblers, of 10 to over 40 individuals. Members of the group constantly make contact calls to each other that can be described as a short spit.
Black-eared Bushtit
The "Black-eared" Bushtit was formerly considered a separate species (P. melanotis). It can be identified by its dark ear patch (the auricular). This polymorphism does not occur in the northern part of the American Bushtits' range, but is first noted near the Mexican border, primarily in Texas. Most individuals with the black ear patch in that area are juvenile males, and none are adult females – some have only one or two dark lines on the face instead of a complete patch. The Black-eared form becomes more common southward in the northeastern (but not the northwestern) highlands of Mexico until from central Mexico south, all males have a complete black ear patch and even adult females have a black arc over the eye and usually a black line through the eye.
References
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bushtit |
- ^ BirdLife International (2004). Psaltriparus minimus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Sloane, Sarah A. (1996). "Incidence and origins of nest supernumeraries at Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) nests". Auk 113: 757-770.
- Howell, Steve N. G., and Sophie Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
- Sibley, David (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. Knopf. 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.
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Names and Taxonomy
Taxonomy
Comments: Composed of three groups: Minimus, PLUMBEUS, and Melanotis; populations of Melanotis (Black-eared Bushtit) wer formerly considered a separate species (AOU 1998). Placed in the genus Aegithalos by Phillips (1986).
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