Towheeblog

A very big picture of a little guy. Photo by Len Blumin who regularly contributes great shots to my towhee.net photo gallery.

Actually there are hummingbirds smaller than the Bushtit, but it is our smallest passerine here in North America.  Primarily an insect eater, it builds a delicate sack nest of dry grass and other very flexible materials.  One of the funniest thing sou can ever see as a birder: sack full of whispering little bushtitlettes pushing and shoving and making the sides of the bag heave and bulge with their energetic motions as they await the next beakful of bugs from mom or dad.

Earlier this week a village of Bushtits came through our garden, whispering to one another and gleaning their tiny bugs.   To beginning birders I say,  watc for a cottonball with a pipestem for a tail, and if there’s a crowd of them flying in undulating paths frlomone bush to the next: Bushtits.  unlke some of our common birds, they are aptly named as well.  Small bird often found in bushes.

So here we happily present a singular picture of our of our most gregarious tiny birds on the Pacific Coast, rivalled only by the various goldfinches and the Pygmy Nuthatch.   Very different from the humingbirds,  wrens, or Empidonax flycatchers or warblers who are often fiercely territorial.