Bushtit

The Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) is one of BC’s smallest birds, next to the Hummingbird. It is gray, and is about 3 1/4 to 4 1/4 inches from bill to tip of tail. It lives here in the lower mainland year round in open wooded areas, suburbs, parks, and gardens. In the winter, they move around in flocks of approximately 6 to 30 birds. They are very nimble and feed mostly on small insects and insect larvae, such as, aphids, searching trees and shrubs. They will also eat seeds and fruit. They make a gourd-shaped nest out of mosses, lichens, and leaves woven together and attached to twigs of trees or shrubs by spider’s silk. The opening is at the top, and is lined with plant down, animal hair, and feathers. The nests can be 7 to 12 inches in length. I read that they like to use Oceanspray bushes to build their nests in. They lay 5 to 7 white eggs that take about 12 days to incubate, and after about another 14 days the young leave the nest. They may have two broods per year.