American bushtit | |
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In Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada | |
Song of the P. minimus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Aegithalidae |
Genus: | Psaltriparus Bonaparte, 1850 |
Species: | P. minimus |
Binomial name | |
Psaltriparus minimus (Townsend, 1837) | |
The American bushtit, or simply bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), is a social songbird belonging to the genus Psaltriparus . It is one of the smallest passerines in North America and it is the only species in the family Aegithalidae that is found in United States; the other seven species are found in Eurasia. [2]
The American bushtit's distinguishing characteristics are its petite size, its plump and large head, and its long tail. [3] Its scattered range stretches from highland parts of Mexico and the Western United States to Vancouver, via the Great Basin, the lowlands and foothills of California, southern Mexico, and Guatemala. Bushtits usually inhabit mixed open woodlands, which contains oaks and a scrubby chaparral understory. They can also be found residing in gardens and parks.[ citation needed ] Their food source is small insects, primarily, spiders in mixed-species feeding flocks. [3]
The sharp-shinned hawk and other birds prey upon American bushtits. [4] Bushtits live in flocks of 10 to 40 birds and family members sleep together in their large, hanging nest during breeding season. Once the offsprings develop wings that are developed enough to fly, they leave the nest and sleep on branches. The Bushtits display a unique behavior as adult males are typically the helpers that assists and raises the nestlings; hence it has intrigued many naturalists for its interesting breeding and mating patterns. [3]
The name "bushtit" has its earliest known origins in the Latin word parus, which stands for titmouse. The tit in titmouse comes from the Old Icelandic word titr, meaning something small. [5]
The scientific name Parus minimus was given to the bushtit after it was originally described in 1837 by American naturalist and ornithologist John Kirk Townsend, where he reported that the species inhabited the forests of the Columbia River. [2] [6] It is now the only species placed in the genus Psaltriparus that was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. [7] [8] The genus name Psaltriparus combines the genus Psaltria that was introduced by Coenraad Temminck in 1836 for the pygmy bushtit with Parus that was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for the tits. [9]
There are 10 subspecies recognized: [8]
Subspecies | Authority | Breeding range |
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Psaltriparus minimus saturatus | Ridgway, 1903 | Southwest Canada and the Northwest United States |
Psaltriparus minimus minimus | Townsend, JK, 1837 | Coastal Western United States |
Psaltriparus minimus melanurus | Grinnell & Swarth, 1926 | Southwest United States and North Baja California |
Psaltriparus minimus grindae | Ridgway, 1883 | South Baja California |
Psaltriparus minimus californicus' | Ridgway, 1884 | South-central Oregon to South-central California |
Psaltriparus minimus plumbeus | Baird, SF, 1854 | West-central, South United States and North-central Mexico |
Psaltriparus minimus dimorphicus | Van Rossem & Hachisuka, 1938 | South-central United States and North-central Mexico |
Psaltriparus minimus iulus | Jouy, 1894 | West and Central Mexico |
Psaltriparus minimus personatus | Bonaparte, 1850 | South-Central Mexico |
Psaltriparus minimus melanotis | Hartlaub, 1844 | South Mexico and Guatemala |
The subspecies P. m. melanotis was previously considered as a separate species due to their black ears. [10]
With a length of 4.3 inches and a weight of 0.18-0.21 ounces, the American Bushtit is one of the smallest passerines in North America. It is mostly gray-brown in color, with a large head, short neck, long tail, and small, stubby beak. Moreover, bushtits have different characteristics based on their sex and habitats. The male has dark brown to black eyes while the adult female has yellow eyes. Additionally, bushtits who stay near the coast tend to have a brown "cap" or "crowns", while those further inland have a brown "mask" on their faces.[ citation needed ]
The subspecies (P. m. melanotis) can be recognized from its dark ear patch, called the auricular. This feature does not occur in the northern part of the American bushtits' range and it was first seen near the Mexican border, mainly in Texas. None of the bushtits in that location with the black ear patch are adult females; the majority of them are juvenile males with one or two dark lines on their faces rather than a whole patch.[ citation needed ] Only in the northeastern highlands Mexican highlands does the black-eared variant become more prevalent farther south; all males have a full black ear patch, and even mature females have a black arc covering their eyes and typically a black line across them. [11]
Identification | Description | |
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Male (Pacific) | Tiny with a chubby appearance, large head, a lengthy tail, and a compact bill. Their feathers are predominantly plain shades of brown and gray, though the specific plumage colors differ based on their geographic location. | |
Male (Interior) | Tiny with a long tail and short bill. They display a lighter shade of gray with gray crowns and tan cheeks, whereas those residing near the coast exhibit brown crowns. | |
Male (Melanotis group) | Males in southwest Texas to Mexico have a black mask and display a shade of brown. The mask color tends to get darker as a bushtit moves further south. | |
Female (Pacific) | Tiny like a ping-pong ball with long tail and pale eyes. | |
Female (Interior) | They display grayer crowns and brown cheeks with pale eyes. | |
Female (Melanotis group) | Females in southwest Texas to Mexico have a brown mask and display a shade of light brown. The mask color tends to become darker as a bushtit moves further south. |
Bushtits usually inhabits mixed open woodlands, which contains oaks and a scrubby chaparral understory. It can also be found residing in gardens and parks.[ citation needed ] It lives under the highland parts of Mexico and the western United States to Vancouver, via the Great Basin, the lowlands and foothills of California, southern Mexico, and Guatemala.[ citation needed ]
Regarding its behavior, the American bushtit has an active and social demeanor.[ citation needed ] This species forms flocks of 10 to 40 individuals of various species, including chickadees and warblers, to forage for tiny insects and spiders in mixed-species environment. Group members frequently communicate with one another through what might be called brief spit calls.[ citation needed ]
Both the males and females work together to construct the hanging nest, which can take up to a month to complete. The nest features a hole near the top that goes down into the nest bowl, and it hangs up to a foot below its anchor point. Using spider webs and plant material, the adults create an elastic sac. Occasionally, they sit inside the nest while it's still being built, which stretches it downward. They cover the outside with fragments of adjacent plants, including the tree the nest is made in, and add insulating materials like feathers, fur, and downy plant debris. All the adults connected to the nest, including the breeding pair and helpers, sleep there when it's in use.Typically, the couple uses the same nest for their second brood of the year. Regarding its placement, the male and female hang spiderwebs from mistletoe or other foliage to test-sites for their nests. Nest locations are typically found on tree trunks or branches, ranging in height from three to one hundred feet. [12]
Female Bushtits lay plain white oval eggs in batches of 4-10, but both parents share the responsibility of incubation for 11–13 days. The egg is 0.5-0.6 inches in length and 0.4 inches in width. Once the chicks hatch, both the male and female Bushtits coorperate to feed and care for them for 14–18 days. They can raise 1-2 broods a year, and older siblings from the first brood may assist in feeding the next. [12] [13]
During the breeding season, male and female Bushtits form pairs, actively participate in nest-building, and both engage in rearing the young. They are aided by other adult males who bring food to the nesting pair's nest. [14] Remarkably, during this time, the entire Bushtit family sleeps together in their large, hanging nest, unlike most breeding birds where only one adult typically sleeps on the nest at a time. After the young birds fledge, they move to sleeping on branches. [12]
However, Bushtits can be sensitive during the breeding process. [13] If there are disturbances in the early nesting stages, they may abandon their nesting attempt and potentially seek a different mate. [12]
The bushtits or long-tailed tits are small passerine birds from the family Aegithalidae, containing 13 species in three genera, all but one of which (Psaltriparus) are found in Eurasia. Bushtits are active birds with long tails compared to their size, moving almost constantly while they forage for insects in shrubs and trees. During non-breeding season, birds live in flocks of up to 50 individuals. Several bushtit species display cooperative breeding behavior, also called helpers at the nest.
The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly classified in the genus Parus.
The Eurasian blue tit is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size.
The great tit is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa where it is generally resident in any sort of woodland; most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters. Until 2005 this species was lumped with numerous other subspecies. DNA studies have shown these other subspecies to be distinct from the great tit and these have now been separated as two distinct species, the cinereous tit of southern Asia, and the Japanese tit of East Asia. The great tit remains the most widespread species in the genus Parus.
The long-tailed tit, also named long-tailed bushtit, is a common bird found throughout Europe and the Palearctic. The genus name Aegithalos was a term used by Aristotle for some European tits, including the long-tailed tit.
Bullock's oriole is a small New World blackbird. At one time, this species and the Baltimore oriole were considered to be a single species, the northern oriole. This bird is named after William Bullock, an English amateur naturalist.
The scarlet tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Until recently, it was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species' plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family, although the Piranga species lacks the thick conical bill that many cardinals possess. The species resides in thick deciduous woodlands and suburbs.
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Audubon's warbler is a small bird of the family Parulidae. At one time considered a distinct species, discovery of a hybrid zone between it and the myrtle warbler in 1973 has led to it being classified as a subspecies of the yellow-rumped warbler.
The magnolia warbler is a member of the wood warbler family Parulidae.
The bay-breasted warbler is a small species of songbird in the New World warbler family, Parulidae. It is one of thirty-four species in the diverse genus Setophaga. Like all songbirds, or passerines, the species is classified in the order Passeriformes.
The black-throated blue warbler is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family. Its breeding ranges are located in the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in eastern North America. Over the cooler months, it migrates to islands in the Caribbean and Central America. It is very rarely found in western Europe, where it is considered to be a non-indigenous species. The black-throated blue warbler is sexually dimorphic; the adult male has a black face and cheeks, deep blue upperparts and white underparts, while the adult female is olive-brown above and light yellow below.
The mourning warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Mourning warblers are native to eastern and central North America as well as some countries in Central America. They are neotropical migrants and tend to be found in dense second growth forests. They are under the Wood-warbler category, which consists of arboreal and terrestrial colorful passerines. Wood warblers are in the order Passeriformes, which are perching birds including more than half of all bird species, and the family Parulidae which also includes the Common Yellowthroat, Black and White Warbler, Nashville Warbler, ovenbird, and American Redstart. They are very similar to the MacGillivray's Warbler in appearance, especially in females and immature birds, but their breeding range does not overlap into the west.
The Carolina chickadee is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae.
Townsend's warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.
The verdin is a species of penduline tit. It is the only species in the genus Auriparus and the only representative of the old world family Remizidae to be found in North America.
The white-naped tit, sometimes called white-winged tit, is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is endemic to India where it is found in dry thorn scrub forest in two disjunct populations, in western India and southern India. Its specific name nuchalis means ‘of the nuchal, nape’.
The red warbler is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae endemic to the highlands of Mexico, north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is closely related to, and forms a superspecies with, the pink-headed warbler of southern Mexico and Guatemala. There are three subspecies, found in disjunct populations, which differ in the color of their ear patch and in the brightness and tone of their body plumage. The adult is bright red, with a white or gray ear patch, depending on the subspecies; young birds are pinkish-brown, with a whitish ear patch and two pale wingbars.
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