Brightly, Sprightly Bushtits

On a brisk gray Sunday afternoon, I took my girls to a neighborhood park to chase away pent up energy.  Our little park is quite literally a step away from the busy 101 freeway.  To mitigate the awful drone of traffic the park, particularly the sides against the freeway, are engulfed in trees.  Lots of oaks and sycamores.  Between the gray skies and changing leaves it was quite lovely.  

The girls climbed around the jungle gym, remember when they used to call is that?  When the girls were little they called parks “wees” because when you go down the slide you say “weeee.”  We referred to parks by color and/or special attribute, like the green wee or the blue wee or the mountain wee (because it had a small climbing wall).  So sweet, but I digress.

Here in Socal fall comes late.  Now that we’re into November things are finally beginning to cool off.  As I sat watching the girls I heard chittering from a nearby sycamore, leaves just beginning to turn golden.  The chatter rose through the branches and around the tree.  One of my favorite little birds moving the park.  I must admit, I rarely see them, but always know they’re there.  Bushtits!

At first glance, bushtits are plain drab micro birds, but don’t let that fool you.  These lively birds are constantly on the move hopping from branch to branch, bush to bush, tree to tree.  They travel in chittering flocks merrily plucking bugs from branches and leaves.  I’ve seen them descend on a rosebush and gorge on aphids.  They move en masse like a breeze pushing through the branches jovially chattering to one another while ridding the garden of pests.  

Pic by Gerrit Vyn from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

 Bushtits are drab grayish brown with plump wee bodies, long tails and short bills.  They forage through the trees and bushes with other bug eaters, like chickadees and kinglets.  These voracious eaters pluck at spiders and bugs, even hanging upside down to pick at their lunch.  Because bushtits are bug eaters it’s hard to attract them to my feeders.  Fortunately, I have a lot of bushes and my neighbor has towering cypress trees that entice these charming birds.

On this cool gray day, I followed this flock of a couple dozen birds drop down on a sycamore, chittering busily through its branches then flit to the next tree to continue their feast.  Tree to tree they flew round and round the park.  The crescendo of chittering as they drew near was enchanting.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes bushtits as “inconspicuous but common.”  Nothing about these fascinating little birds is common.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website is full of interesting and amazing bird facts.  It’s well worth a visit.  You can find out what foods best draw local birds to your feeder.  You can even participate in bird counts and nest watches.  Check it out:  http://www.birds.cornell.edu