The American bushtit (''Psaltriparus minimus'') is the only species placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Psaltriparus'' and the only species in the family

Aegithalidae The bushtits or long-tailed tits, are a family, Aegithalidae, of small passerine birds with long tails, compared to their size. The family contains 13 species in three genera, all but one of which are found in Eurasia. Bushtits are active birds, ...

that is found in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. In North America, it is referred to simply as "bushtit".

Taxonomy

The American bushtit was formally described by the American naturalist

John Kirk Townsend John Kirk Townsend (August 10, 1809 – February 6, 1851) was an American naturalist, ornithologist and collector. Townsend was a Quaker born in Philadelphia, the son of Charles Townsend and Priscilla Kirk. He attended Westtown School in ...

in 1837 and given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Parus minimus''. Townsend noted that the species inhabited the forests of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. It is now the only species placed in the genus ''Psaltriparus'' that was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

. The genus name ''Psaltriparus'' combines the genus '' Psaltria'' that was introduced by

Coenraad Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

in 1836 for the

pygmy bushtit The pygmy bushtit (''Aegithalos exilis'') is a species of bird in the bushtit family Aegithalidae. The species was once placed, along with the rest of its family, with the true tits, Paridae. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it occurs only on t ...

with ''

Parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed mo ...

'' that was introduced by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1758 for the tits. Ten

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''P. m. saturatus'' Ridgway, 1903 – southwest Canada and northwest USA * ''P. m. minimus'' (Townsend, JK, 1837) – coastal west USA * ''P. m. melanurus'' Grinnell & Swarth, 1926 – southwest USA and north Baja California * ''P. m. grindae'' Ridgway, 1883 – south Baja California * ''P. m. californicus'' Ridgway, 1884 – south-central Oregon to south-central California * ''P. m. plumbeus'' ( Baird, SF, 1854) – west-central, south USA and northcentral Mexico * ''P. m. dimorphicus'' Van Rossem & Hachisuka, 1938 – south-central USA and north-central Mexico * ''P. m. iulus'' Jouy, 1894 – west, central Mexico * ''P. m. personatus'' Bonaparte, 1850 – south-central Mexico * ''P. m. melanotis'' ( Hartlaub, 1844) – south Mexico and Guatemala The subspecies ''P. m. melanotis'' was formerly considered a separate species, the "black-eared bushtit".

Description and behavior

The American

bushtit The bushtits or long-tailed tits, are a family, Aegithalidae, of small passerine birds with long tails, compared to their size. The family contains 13 species in three genera, all but one of which are found in Eurasia. Bushtits are active birds, ...

inhabits mixed open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s, often containing

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s and a scrubby

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

understory; it also inhabits parks and gardens. It is a year-round resident of the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and highland parts of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, ranging from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

through the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

and the lowlands and foothills of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to southern Mexico and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. The American bushtit is one of the smallest

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

s in North America, at in length and in weight. It is gray-brown overall, with a large head, a short neck, a long tail, and a short stubby

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. Bushtits are sexually dimorphic. The male has dark brown to black eyes and the adult female yellow eyes. Coastal forms have a brown "cap" while those in the interior have a brown "mask." The subspecies (''P. m. melanotis'') 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 Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. 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. The American bushtit is active and gregarious, foraging for small insects and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s in

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s containing species such as

chickadees The chickadees are a group of North American birds in the tit family included in the genus ''Poecile''. Species found in North America are referred to as chickadees, while other species in the genus are called tits. They are small-sized birds ...

and

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

s, of 10 to over 40 individuals. Members of the group constantly make contact

calls Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

to each other that can be described as a short ''spit''. This species produces an elaborate pendant nest of moss and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.spider silk Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make Spider web, webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. ...

and lined with feathers.

Gallery

Psaltriparus minimus 03647.JPG, Nest Bushtit Nest.JPG, Nest Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) Nest.JPG, Nest American Bushtit.jpg, Pleasanton, California

References

External links

Bushtit species account
– Cornell Lab of Ornithology * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2746307

American bushtit The American bushtit (''Psaltriparus minimus'') is the only species placed in the genus ''Psaltriparus'' and the only species in the family Aegithalidae that is found in the New World. In North America, it is referred to simply as "bushtit". Tax ...

Native birds of the Western United States Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Birds of the Great Basin Birds of Mexico Birds of Guatemala

Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental Birds of the Sierra Madre Oriental Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur Birds of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

Taxonomy

Description and behavior

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links