Bushtit
Psaltriparus minimus · Long-tailed Tits and Bushtits
Banding codeBUSH
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 4.5 in long.
2Color pattern
- Tiny gray bird with a long tail
- Brownish cheek patch (interior birds)
- Females have pale eyes; males dark
3Habitat & season
Scrub oak, juniper, shrubby yards
In northern Utah: year-round.
Seen most often in October and November.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
Constant soft twittering contact notes.
“tsit-tsit-tsit (a busy flock)”
iNat 114034659 by Joshua Morris · Seattle, WA 98102, USA · CC0
Know it
- Weaves a hanging, sock-like nest of moss, lichen and spider silk up to a foot long.
- Moves through shrubs in chattering flocks of a dozen or more.
- Flock members huddle together on cold nights to stay warm.
- Females have pale yellow eyes; males' eyes are dark.
Often confused with
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
House Sparrow
Bullock's Oriole- Juniper Titmouse
From iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The American bushtit, or simply bushtit, is a social songbird belonging to the monotypic genus Psaltriparus. It is one of the smallest passerines in North America and it is the only species in the family Aegithalidae found in the Americas; the other eleven species occur in Eurasia.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0