Before I headed out to California
during the summer of 2010, I had a short-list of birds I wanted to see. On that
list was the miniscule Bushtit, the only North American representative of
the largely Eurasian family called Aegithalidae, or the long-tailed tits. I
looked forward to seeing these birds all summer, but when I arrived in San
Diego , I was surprised to that they were one of the
first birds I saw.
Bushtits are wholly unique among North American
birds. For one, they fly in tightly-knit flocks numbering between 20-40 birds,
moving through low shrubs and bushes even in suburban habitat. I say “flock”,
but these birds skillfully move between dense branches, flitting in and out
more like a swarm of flies over roadkill. Additionally, the sexes look quite
similar except for one key difference: female Bushtits have light-colored
eyes, while those of the male are pure black, like shark’s eyes.
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| Which would make this one a male Bushtit. |
During our time in San Diego ,
James and I found that Bushtits are particularly responsive to taped
calls. Merely playing the tape in their general vicinity would lead to a swarm
of these tiny birds in the nearest shrub. As such, we had fantastic views of
these birds at close range, and got equally fantastic photos. I can’t wait til
I can head out that way again, and get to enjoy these birds in all their
miniscule glory.
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