Re: Garden Calif.
- Subject: Re: Garden Calif.
- From: John MacGregor j*@earthlink.net
- Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 23:50:47 -0700
on 6/22/03 10:41 PM, Joe Seals at gardenguru@yahoo.com wrote:
> The "little plump birds mostly gray, with a bit of
> black that come in flocks" are Bushtits. They're
> quite common around the Central Coast. Soon after
> nesting (when they travel as singles or pairs), they
> begin to flock again and for the rest of the year
> until next spring courting season.
Joe,
One small correction: Bush Tits are communal nesters. Normally two to five
pairs band together and make a complicated hanging nest where all the
females lay their eggs. The chicks are raised by all members of this
extended family until they fledge and join the larger flock (which may
number 50-100 birds).
I have watched the nestbuilding process on several occasions. Once, while I
was working at the Huntington many years ago, I was standing quietly in the
herb garden watching them build a nest in one of the climbing roses when two
of them landed on my wrist and tried to strip hanging loose threads off my
work glove to tie the nesting materials together.
John MacGregor
South Pasadena, CA 91030
USDA zone 9 Sunset zones 21/23
