BUSHTITS ARE BIRDS
Rex Burress
In front of the Feather River Nature Center, I was watching the train rumble along up on the tracks above the Center, and at the same time, flying through the thickets along the river was a string of thirty birds, weaving from one shrub to another like a game of follow the leader, pausing just long enough to fleece some insects from the branches. Their social circle seemed unbroken, as in the song, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” At least they were sticking together for some reason.
They were Bushtits, [Psaltriparus minimus], bunched in a battalion for the winter, like a flock of ducks, although not duck-sized, being more like wren-sized, but continually on the move in the woodland, quite unlike the waterfowl resting on the water! There is a different bird to fit each niche of the environment, complete with a different set of appendages, abilities, and actions. Some call it God; Bird watchers call it wonderful!
The bushtit is a mighty mite of energy even if not showy, endowed with a uniform gray feather-covering, and such a small beak it is excluded from eating anything larger than minute insects on leaves. They are leaf-and-twig birds, seldom searching in woody cracks like the creepers and nuthatches, as if respecting the bark bird's territory, although the bushtit's beak is too short to prod cracks.
The tiny gray imp is a friendly and cheery bird, singing short tweets as it flows along in an up-and-down flight style, perhaps vocal to help keep track of its winter comrades, or just joyful to find food and shelter. Not many predators seek such a small bite to eat! The winter rendezvous is one of their secrets, together perhaps out of camaraderie, but it's mostly a mystery, like the urge, or unknown directive, to do the hard job of reproduction.
The human observer will never know why or how bushtits gather together in the winter, anymore than the bird will know why people gather for ballgames or business parties. Nor does the bird care. But we know that the bunch of birds scatter in the springtime to pair up and raise a family. For the naturalist, it's the inquisitive style of the scientific spectator keen on discovery. For the bird, every minute is wrought with hunting and discovery in the quest to eat and love.
When a pair of bushtits form a union they begin to build a nest—a nest that is as wondrously beautiful as it is ingenious! Mutually compatible, they start selecting for a suitable branch to support a sock-like bag 20-times larger than the builder!
One wonders how they decide, and if it's the male or female that has the final say, but a decision is made, and from a blueprint in their brains they build a hanging masterpiece, made from grasses, fibers, mosses, and available duff. There's a small opening near the top, and plenty of room inside to accommodate up to seven eggs! Both parents take part in all the chores, and the male even takes a turn in incubating.
When the wind-rocked eggs hatch in their cradle to the sway of the breeze, there is still enough snug shelter inside for everyone to spend the night. Next day it is a frantic search for insects to bring the bunch through to join the winter-time throng. It's work or die. There are no handouts.
The bushtit is one distinct species amid a planet of nearly 10,000 bird species, each one filling a niche in a unique habitat. Some species may provide food for mankind, but all birds are a beautiful addition to the wonders of the world.
One most memorable moment of wonder occurred in front of the Feather River Nature Center one winter, when bushtits landed in a dew-ladened toyon shrub. Droplets glistened amid the Christmas-red berries, but the birds didn't mind the toyon shower they shook loose to roll off their feathered backs.
Birdwatchers are for the birds!
“It's impossible to explain creativity. It's like asking a bird, 'How do you fly?' You just do.
--Eric Jerome Dickey
“Success is full of promise until one gets it, and then it seems like a nest from which the bird has flown.” – Henry Ward Beecher