CreatureData

American bushtit

Psaltriparus minimus (J. K. Townsend, 1837)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) is a species in the family Aegithalidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 5.3 g and live up to 8.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Photo: Alex Critch · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the American bushtit

Weight
5.3 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
8.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
9.08 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
woodlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
12 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
6src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the American bushtit live?

Not recorded

What is the American bushtit?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The American bushtit, or simply bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), 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.

The American bushtit's distinguishing characteristics are its tiny size, its plump and large head, and its long tail. Its range stretches from Vancouver in Canada, south through the Western United States, via the Great Basin, the lowlands and foothills of California, the highlands of Mexico, to Guatemala. Bushtits usually inhabit mixed open woodlands, which contains oaks and a scrubby chaparral understory. They can also be found residing in gardens and parks. Their food source is small insects, primarily, and spiders in mixed-species feeding flocks.

The sharp-shinned hawk and other raptors prey upon American bushtits. Bushtits live in flocks of 10 to 40 birds and family members sleep together in their large, hanging nest during breeding season. Once the offspring develop wings that are strong enough to fly, they leave the nest and sleep on branches. Bushtits display a unique behavior as adult males are typically the helpers that assist and raise the nestlings; hence it has intrigued many naturalists for its interesting breeding and mating patterns.

From the Wikipedia article “American bushtit” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_bushtit&oldid=1379378598), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the American bushtit sound like?

Jonathon Jongsma · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the American bushtit endangered?

The American bushtit is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the American bushtit classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyAegithalidae
  6. genusPsaltriparus
  7. SpeciesPsaltriparus minimus (J. K. Townsend, 1837)

Synonyms Parus minimus

Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • Black-eared bushtitEnglish
  • BushtitEnglish
  • BushtitEnglish
  • Pacific bushtitEnglish
  • Binoter-AmerikaBreton
  • mallerenga cuallarga americanaCatalan
  • mlynařík americkýCzech
  • mlynařík černouchýCzech
  • Titw’r PrysgwyddWelsh
  • KratmejseDanish
  • BuschschwanzmeiseGerman
  • BuschmeiseGerman
  • amerika egitaloEsperanto
  • Nana psaltriparoEsperanto
  • SastrecilloSpanish
  • Mito sastrecilloSpanish
  • Sastrecito comúnSpanish
  • ameerika sabatihaneEstonian
  • pensastiainenFinnish
  • meksikonpensastiainenFinnish
  • Orite buissonnièreFrench
  • Mésange buissonnièreFrench
  • patuljasta sjenicaCroatian
  • bozótcinegeHungarian
  • Cincia di macchiaItalian
  • codibugnolo americanoItalian
  • ヤブガラJapanese
  • krūmyninė zylėLithuanian
  • krūmu zīlīteLatvian
  • Chʼíshiibeezhii yił aheełtʼéhéNavajo
  • StruikmeesDutch
  • krattmeisNorwegian
  • Raniuszek amerykanskiPolish
  • raniuszek amerykańskiPolish
  • Chapim-do-matoPortuguese
  • chapim-americanoPortuguese
  • chapim-rabilongo-americanoPortuguese
  • Серый ополовничекRussian
  • Темношапочная Кустарниковая СиницаRussian
  • Тёмношапочная кустарниковая синицаRussian
  • mlynárka lesnáSlovak
  • Žbunjačka senicaSerbian
  • buskmesSwedish
  • Çalı UzunkuyruğuTurkish
  • ополовник американськийUkrainian
  • 叢山雀Chinese
  • 短嘴长尾山雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the American bushtit

Other species in the same family Aegithalidae.

CompareAmerican bushtit vs Long-tailed titAmerican bushtit vs White-browed tit-warblerAmerican bushtit vs Black-throated bushtitAmerican bushtit vs Rufous-fronted bushtit

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the American bushtit?

An adult American bushtit weighs 5.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the American bushtit endangered?

The American bushtit is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the American bushtit live?

The American bushtit has a recorded lifespan of 8.4 years.

What kind of animal is the American bushtit?

The American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) belongs to the family Aegithalidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-bushtit

MLA

“American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-bushtit.

BibTeX
@misc{american_bushtit_2026,
  title = {American bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/american-bushtit},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}