Huddled Bushtits, El Paso Co, Sun

[Steve Brown]

Hey COBirders,

Doing the GBBC this weekend at home in NW COS, and mostly seeing the regulars, but this behavior was new to me. We see our local flock multiple times per day, year round, but I guess it was never as cold as the past two days when we observe them. Yesterday we saw groups of 2, 3, and even 5 huddled together in the cold, but this pic today was the best.

Enjoy togetherness. Happy Valentines Day,
Steve Brown
Mountain Shadows, Colorado Springs
>
> 

[Donna Stumpp]

How interesting! I had the same experience in NW Denver (Jefferson County, just east of Standley Lake). I've never seen them huddled up like this. I noticed this bunch earlier today. I couldn't believe it when the center one just jumped on top of the others. Temp was -6 at the time.

Also, we only usually see them about every week or two at our feeders, but yesterday and today they have been here 4-5 times per day. They must be hungry because they didn't budge when I had to step outside and just kept eating. 

Donna Stumpp

Westminster (Jeffco), CO

[linda hodges]

Steve, I'm so glad you mentioned this. A few hours ago, I saw a bundle of gray fur in my lilac bush and couldn't make out what the heck it was. At some point, part of the mound moved and I was able to discern that the fluffy lump was a pile of Bushtits. I believe the temp was still below zero at that point.

Do other bird species huddle together like this?

Thanks,

Linda

Linda Hodges

Colorado Springs

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[Willem van Vliet]

Same here in Central Boulder. Feeding longer and more frequently than usual and keeping warm in a little clump. Interesting that they arranged themselves side-by-side, alternating head-tail-head-tail; maybe to minimize seams in between?

Willem van Vliet

Boulder

On Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 3:06 PM Donna Stumpp <donna....@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Patrick O'Driscoll]

I've never seen Bushtits in a pile, but I'll bet they learned this as fledglings. I do know that their huddling together is not confined to subzero winter conditions.

On a chilly mid-May Sunday morning four years ago, I saw what appeared to be five recently fledged juveniles huddled in a row on a juniper tree branch in Denver City Park. 

The two "bookend" birds faced one direction and the three in the middle faced the other -- all shoulder-to-shoulder, side-by-side.

What may have been their parents were fluttering around the trees and on the ground foraging, I believe to feed them. (Adults continue to feed fledglings for two weeks after they leave the nest.)

I managed to get a mediocre shot or two through the thick tangle of branches.

At the time, I thought it unusual, too, but I found photos online later with even more numbers of Bushtits huddling together in a row for warmth like this.

Cornell's Birds of the World remarks on just-fledged or recently fledged Bushtits as perching with others and "usually" huddling.

Good birding,

Patrick O'Driscoll

Denver

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAPySxGZN6a7FVf9nkMmXL0iwsf7p2eQ6Ag5YveksdOS73XCCFQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Karl Stecher Jr.]

They didn't huddle anywhere I could see.  Flock of ten visiting my porch daily until the cold snap...have only seen two since, but their visiting is always erratic.

 

Karl Stecher

Aurora/Arapahoe

 

 

 

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From: "Willem van Vliet" <wwi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2021 11:29 PM
To: "Donna Stumpp" <donna....@gmail.com>
Cc: "Colorado Birds" <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Re: Huddled Bushtits, El Paso Co, Sun

 

Same here in Central Boulder. Feeding longer and more frequently than usual and keeping warm in a little clump. Interesting that they arranged themselves side-by-side, alternating head-tail-head-tail; maybe to minimize seams in between?

 

Willem van Vliet

Boulder

 

On Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 3:06 PM Donna Stumpp <donna....@gmail.com> wrote:

How interesting! I had the same experience in NW Denver (Jefferson County, just east of Standley Lake). I've never seen them huddled up like this. I noticed this bunch earlier today. I couldn't believe it when the center one just jumped on top of the others. Temp was -6 at the time.

 

Also, we only usually see them about every week or two at our feeders, but yesterday and today they have been here 4-5 times per day. They must be hungry because they didn't budge when I had to step outside and just kept eating. 

Donna Stumpp

Westminster (Jeffco), CO

 

On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 2:44:31 PM UTC-7 Steve wrote:

Hey COBirders,

Doing the GBBC this weekend at home in NW COS, and mostly seeing the regulars, but this behavior was new to me. We see our local flock multiple times per day, year round, but I guess it was never as cold as the past two days when we observe them. Yesterday we saw groups of 2, 3, and even 5 huddled together in the cold, but this pic today was the best.

Enjoy togetherness. Happy Valentines Day,
Steve Brown
Mountain Shadows, Colorado Springs
>

> ?

 

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[The Nunn Guy]

Hi all

On a Fort Collins Christmas Bird Count a few years back we came across about 16 Bushtit huddling side-by-side along a horizontal branch.

Thanks, Gary Lefko, Nunn

http://www.friendsofthepawneegrassland.org

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/birds-and-more-of-the-pawnee-national-grassland

On Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 2:44:31 PM UTC-7 Steve wrote:

[Steve Germaine]

Wind, snow, and cold (~ -6F to +6F) had these eastern bluebirds huddled in an exterior corner of a home in Tulsa. They survived Saturday night and were eating seed Sunday. I do not have more recent information. 

Steve