A very small, drab gray bird with a long tail and a social nature. Bushtits are usually found in flocks of up to 40 individuals, often mixed in with other specie

Interesting Information

• The Bushtit is the only member of its family in the Americas; seven other species are found in Eurasia. All have similar complex hanging nests.

• All family members sleep together in the complex nest during breeding, but they leave it after the young fledge, and sleep on branches.

• The nest is an impressive, woven, hanging basket 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, and is generally built of spider webs, moss, lichen, and other plant material.

• Both the male and female will incubate the eggs, sometimes even at the same time.

• This bird often has helpers at the nest, birds other than the parental pair that feed nestlings. All family members sleep together in the complex nest during breeding, but they leave it after the young fledge, and sleep on branches.

Description