Species: Psaltriparus minimus
Bushtit
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Aegithalidae
Genus
Psaltriparus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Mésange buissonnière - Sastrecillo
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Aegithalidae - Psaltriparus - 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).
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A small bird.
Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food 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.
Reproduction Comments
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.
Ecology Comments
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.
Length
11
Weight
5
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-02
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-02
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S5&US.AZ=S5&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S4&US.ID=S4&US.NN=S5&US.NV=S4&US.NM=S5&US.OK=S3&US.OR=S5&US.TX=S4&US.UT=S4&US.WA=S4&US.WY=S1" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
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).