It's been a long time......

.....and much has happened.  I've been cautiously going in the field as have my two assistants and we have already found 56 nests.

Fifty-six nests!!   I believe that's some kind of record for this time of the year.  Last year I found a total of 97.  I'm guessing, based on what we have so far, we'll find over 100 by the end of the summer.  Wow.

Nests are in all stages.  Some are complete and I believe incubating.  In fact, we may have a few hatching now.  Others are in the very early stages of building.  They are are either loose sacks or just a whisper of spider web and lichen on a branch.  There have been a few false starts:  nests begun and abandoned for a better site nearby.  Nest material thieves (likely goldfinches or other bushtits) have decimated a couple.  But most are going strong.

This is banner year for bushtits.  It's too bad it's not a banner year for bushtit researchers.  I have had to confine my searches to areas where I can maintain distance and wearing a mask is a problem because my glasses fog up.  But I go out anyway --- with an abundance of caution when I can't maintain 20' or so distance.  I have two fabulous field assistants who have been absolutely essential.  And Gary on the Reed campus has been keeping me up-to-date on the banded birds he sees at his feeder on campus.  So all is not lost.

But the season has one big challenge:  Banding and collecting blood for DNA analysis will be limited to only those nests without much traffic because of the need to social distance.  I always say that every year is different.  Usually I'm referring to the birds.  This time I'm referring to the fieldwork and the challenges we need to face to keep ourselves and others safe.  Sigh.

A cute story:

Three days ago I came in for lunch and sat by my big picture window looking out over the front yard.  The window has a bush in front of it which I like because it's open enough to let in light but also shades a bit and provides some privacy.  Occasionally a pair of bushtits who are building about 2 houses down bop through the bush and then out in a minute or two.

So I was surprised and enchanted when a lone male joined me for lunch one day.  He hopped about in the bush and then made his way to a new branch that was right up against the window only a few inches from my face.  He seemed to me to be just coming over to say "hello."  He hung out long enough for me to eat and was then gone after I got up to put my things away.  Magical.

It happened again yesterday and, again, he left after I was done with lunch.  How sweet!

Or so I thought.  Of course there was a rational explanation rather than some "mystical bushtit coming to commune with the lone bushtit researcher" reason.  Today he showed me why and it was exactly what many of you are thinking:  he was investigating his reflection in the window.  Today, instead of just coming to the branch and looking at me (or so I thought), he was much bolder.  This time he pecked at the window repeatedly as if pecking at another bushtit. Then he'd take a short break, hop around the bush, and come back to do it again.  After doing this for a bit, he huddled up to the window (I am not kidding) as if he was huddling up against another bushtit (they do this often) and....fell sound asleep.  In the sun and leaning against the window.  It was absolutely adorable.  He was so sleepy, he even began to tilt back and hang sideways.  I got a little worried about him and tapped on the glass whereupon he woke up and began to hop around energetically and even came back to peck at the window again.  Quite the little character.

So what was going on?  Why as he alone?  I strongly suspect this little guy is an unmated male who is "lonesome" for flock members that are now associated with nests.  Bushtits are very social but as nests are completed, pairs do take up residence and spend less time in flocks.  That leaves lone males vulnerable and....lonely.  Because of this they often join a pair at a nest and earn the privilege of spending the night there.  Sometimes they even feed the kids (and maybe a few of their own...only DNA will tell).  Such is one of the interesting traits of bushtits, but from the perspective of this little lone male.

I couldn't help but hope he has somewhere safe and warm to sleep tonight.  Perhaps he will even join the pair I see so often and I will soon have 3 bushtits joining me for lunch.

More nests.....

The weather couldn't be better!    I love this cool spring, especially on sunny days and it looks like we have at least a couple more in store.   Next week, alas, looks rainy.  But you never can tell.  

I didn't get out yesterday as I was waiting for food deliveries.  But I had bushtits all around my house again and happy little birds they were as I now have a restocked suet feeder.  A pair seems to be hanging out more than the others and I have fond hopes I will have a nest here in the yard.  We'll see!  

I did get out the day before yesterday to Oaks Bottom and made three new discoveries:

1.  I found a nest being built by an unbanded pair in a rose vine on someone's porch very near Sellwood Park. This would be unremarkable except for the fact that this is the 4th year in a row bushtits have built in that very vine.  Last year's nest is still there....looking a bit forlorn, but almost usable.  The even-older nests are gone only because the owner trimmed back the vines last year.  Otherwise, 3 old bushtit nests would be hanging like soggy Xmas ornaments.  

2.  Remember the first year female W-X "rebuilding" at a nest that was built and used last year?  Well, that is happening no longer.  Instead, she and an unbanded male are building in the same tree but about 20' higher.  It's a very early stage nest so we'll see if they stick with it or if someone else takes over.  I did find the pair hanging with another pair near there later in the afternoon, suggesting the second pair in eying the nest site.  

3.  I found a very early stage nest (just a ring of spider web and lichen) along the Bluff trail that, if completed, will be so obvious to anyone on the trail that I am loath to reveal its location.  I find that nests that are that close to the trail often don't do well if people find out about them and stop and watch too much and too closely.  Crows are crafty and learn pretty quickly that bushtit nests are lovely hanging sacks of protein.  Sad for the bushtit families. 

Which brings me to.......

Reed College!   My amazing field assistant, Amelia, who was with me last year, has started searches for nests on campus and so far she has seen banded birds (GYYX and another banded male) with an unbanded female hanging out around an old nest site.  More on that later.......time to go find my birds! 

Bushtits......and the pandemic....

A cheerful flock of bushtits just appeared in the bushes out my front window and made their way around to the back of the house, a bit disappointed that my suet feeders aren't up, I'm guessing.  They are a reminder to me that they are still hanging out in their flocks even as late as 10AM and so are not entirely serious about nesting.....yet.  

But that doesn't mean nests aren't being built.  It doesn't even mean some nests aren't finished already.   It just means no one is incubating yet.  

In all probability these these little flocks (tintinnabulation's, twitters, or whatever we will decide) will break up into subgroups of pairs and contenders for females and nests later in the day as it warms.   That's really what I'm seeing now.  I am rarely running across a single pair building solo.  There always seems to be one or more bushtits hanging out with little chases and even courtship around the nesting areas which are, not surprisingly, about where nests were last year.  

As I watched the flock from the safety of my house, I contemplated what this year's season will look like given the current and future state of the pandemic.  I think (so far) I'm pretty safe heading out by myself and finding nests in the open air.  I have two assistants who (so far) seem ok with that scenario as well.  My plan, as an elder, is to do most of my searching alone to avoid exposure as much as I can.  My two assistants (both in their 20s) can work together if they like as their risk of complications is much lower and and I think they would enjoy the company.  But I'll leave that up to them.  

I think we are all safe watching nests in the field.   That's a solitary endeavor no matter what.  Solitary except for the bushtits, of course. 

The big compromise I think I will have to make this year will be catching and banding birds.  Although I can do that alone, I need help setting up the net and that involves less personal distance than recommended.  Taking blood is even worse because I need to be in very close contact with my assistant.  

And so I am faced with a dilemma:  Do I take the risks I will have to take to continue my study this year?  Or do I stay at home as I have been instructed to and lose this field season and all the interesting information I would get from birds I already know ---- birds that may not be around next year at all ---- to stay as safe as possible.  

I don't know yet.  

But my problems are nothing compared those who are ill or who don't have the luxury of self-isolating.  My heart goes out to all those people who, because we didn't take a strong enough stance on this virus early enough, will suffer and even die.  It is my hope that in the next day or two, Oregon and every other state will close all but essential businesses and "flatten the curve" so that our health care system does not get over-burdened and we weather this very real storm in relative safety.  

Stay well everyone.....and stay tuned.  If I do continue to find and watch nests (at the least) you may find this distracting as you stay home and stay the distance.     

Mar 10-11: Four nests and a puzzle.........already

Yesterday I returned to Oaks Bottom and walked all the way from the southern end to the north and back.  Today I returned to just the southern end and found nests......

This is a quick recap (joined today by a student from PSU);

1.  PPRX is building a nest with an unbanded female very near to his nest in 2018 and right next to the nest he briefly took over last year.  It's also very near where I saw him with the flock on 9 March.  This nest is just a hanging sack so far, on the outer edge of a very large cedar.  Lots of little chases and such with at least one other bird in the area could mean that, on closer inspection, this nest isn't really PPRX's at all. We'll see!!

2.  A young birder extraordinaire (who will remain nameless until I get his permission) found a nest yesterday that is almost finished on the slope about half-way between the southern field and the mortuary building.  Both birds are unbanded (so far).

3.  We found another new and barely there nest hanging over some brambles that had a very successful nest last year.  This new one is being build by an unbanded pair and is just a ring of spider web and lichen.  It's in the lower branches of a giant pine on a slope along the Bluff Trail.

4.  And finally the puzzle....actually TWO puzzles.  W-X (this time a female) and an unbanded male are apparently refurbishing a nest we had last year on the edge of the southern field of Oaks Bottom.  Two things are a puzzle.  First, this is W-X, but not the male I saw with PPRX two days ago.  This is a female.  Now, both of these W-X birds hatched last year in a nest on the edge of this field (dad was PYLX) and are siblings.  The big puzzle is I have never had a first-year female breeding in her natal flock!  They usually disperse out.   So this is "first #1."  "First #2" is really not a first.   It's a "second."  But it's very, very rare.  Only once before have I ever seen a nest reused in another year.   A very rare event!   And the last time (in Arizona) it was also a young first-year pair and not the original owners of the nest.  Interesting.

Last, but not least, I found RXRG (RexRug) with a flock very near his nest from last year.  Also with him was NUNX (Nuns) who was banded as an adult visitor at RXRG's nest last year.  This was all near the juncture of Bluff Trail and Springwater.  I am certain RXRG (who has a very, very complex history which I will detail here soon) has a nest near here.

Stay tuned for more!   I realize that, at this point, it all seems a bit confusing.  But as the season progresses, you will get to know these birds and their nests and shenanigans and be as excited about what they do next as I am.  I think :-)

Day 1: Who and what did I see??

Well today was the first day of the real season for me.  I drove in from Olympia by 2pm and headed out to the southern edge of Oaks Bottom for a quick look at what the bushtits were up to.   I only had an hour, but the weather was so clear and pretty, I couldn't resist.

And what were they doing?  They were messing around in small flocks of 5-10 birds that divided and coalesced seemingly randomly, although I'm certain it wasn't random.  I'll know better when I have more birds banded.

Which deserves a quick explanation:

In Arizona, my study area in the Chiricahua mountains was well within Coronado National Forest and so my study area was, literally, boundless.  The lovely result was that I could be certain I had every bird in a flock (or whatever we'll call it) banded and every nest found.  I didn't have to worry about roads or fences or people's backyards or sensitive wetlands.  I could go anywhere.  Consequently, I could be certain I knew what every single bird was doing from day to day.  Every spring, flocks were full of old friends with just a few new unbanded birds that had dispersed and joined up over the winter or early spring.

Not so in Portland.  The flocks I am finding now are most certainly as cohesive and tight-knit and closely-related as those in Arizona, but I am constrained by the urban-ness of the terrain.  I can never find every nest in a flock because some of these nests are unfindable.  I had one last year that was well out in the wetlands at Oaks Bottom.  Some nests are in backyards.  Others are in areas that are otherwise off-limits.  So I do what I can.  Every year I find as many nests as I can within the constraints of Oaks Bottom, Sellwood Park, Riverfront Park, Westmoreland Park, and Reed campus.  Many of these nests are nests of old friends and I am always delighted to see them.  But every year I have nests with unbanded members of the same flock whose nests the year before I couldn't find.  It is only the observations I make during the breeding season and especially near the beginning and end that verify who belongs to which flock.

I should also mention that every year I see banded birds early in the season and never find their nests!    I know that they are still around when the season starts to end and they show up with fledglings in tow.Very frustrating!

Ok....that's a bit about urban bushtit research!   Not particularly easy, actually.

Back to my short afternoon:   I ran into a conglomeration of bushtits --- perhaps 10 -- near the northern end of the big field.  Most of the birds I saw were unbanded, but I was excited to find PPRX and W-X among them.  W-X is a first year male whose father was PYLX  -- I'm hoping I'll find PYLX who was the "helper" in 2018 at Nest 11 and had his own nest last year.  The same year PYLX was a "helper," PPRX had a nest very close by that was successful twice.  So PYLX and PPRX are clearly members of the same flock...perhaps even related.

Now PPRX is a male who has been a very successful breeding male for the last two years and he is a real character!  Last year he booted PYLX out of his first nest after finishing a clutch of his own at another nest and leaving the female to incubate alone (a no-no and the same thing LLRX seems to be capable of).  Then he himself gave up on PYLX's nest (never knew why --- someone  else eventually rehabbed it and moved in) and became the doting father at his original nest where he and the female raised two broods successfully.

Poor PYLX, in the meantime, seemed a bit lost although he continued to hang out in the area.  He finally nested late in the season in a small tree at the opposite end of the big field and successfully raised a brood of four -- W-X was one of them.

So....not much to report yet, but two banded birds in just an hour and verification that nest-building is imminent based on the loose nature of the flocks and some chases I saw, was better than nothing and a nice start to the year!  I'm sure there are already nests out there just waiting to be found :-).  And more of my banded friends.

.  

What to call a flock of bushtits?

While I await my return to Portland (I'm in Olympia with friends) I think I'll post a very interesting thread from OBOL.  We are all familiar with various names for flocks of other species:  a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, etc.   But, as far as I know, there is no "official" name for a flock of bushtits.  Perhaps we can rectify that with a contest.

It started with a query:  What do you call a flock of bushtits?  And there was a cascade of responses from OBOL list serve members.  I expect more will come.

I'll list the suggestions people have emailed on OBOL and then we can take a vote.  I'm open-minded!    I'll keep names off the list, but include explanations if needed.  When there is a consensus (that would be nice) or a majority in favor of one, I'll declare the winner and that is what will go into my book.  I suggest "Ranked-choice voting:"  Choose your top 5 favorites and rank them in order of preference.

Here we go.   If you'd like me to post your name with your suggestion, just let me know.  Some are silly, but most have some interesting descriptive character.

1.  Psaltriparus minimus glosses as 'smallest harper-tit.'  A collection of harpers is a melody.  The smallest significant part of a melody--beyond a note--is a motif.  QED: a Motif of Bushtits.

2. Swarm of bushtits

3. Tinkle of bushtits

4. Tickle of bushtits

5. Mob of bushtits (this is probably the most commonly used to date)

6.  Flash mob of bushtits

7.  Flurry of bushtits

8.  Bundle of bushtits

9.  Lint-trap of bushtits

10. Bale of bushtits (as in a gathering of collection such as hay-bale)

11.  Invasion of bushtits

12.  Bushel of bushtits

13.  Bustle of bushtits

14.  Business (or Busy-ness) of bushtits

15. Blizzard of bushtits

16.  Buzz of bushtits

17.  Collective of bushtits

18.  Sharing of bushtits

19.  Arrival and departure of bushtits

20.  Gathering of bushtits

21.  Togetherness of bushtits

22.  Cloud of bushtits

23. Passage of bushtits

24.  Gang of bushtits

25.  Bully of bushtits

26.  Scatter of bushtits

27.  Myrmiration of bushtits (not a typo:  derived from beetle taxonomy)

28.  Frenzy of Bushtits

29.  Twittering of bushtits

30.  Bell choir of bushtits

31. Tintinabulation of bushtits

32.  Cascade of bushtits

33.  Titillation of bushtits

34.  Shower of bushtits

35.  Spit of bushtits (because they say, very clearly, "sspt.")

36.  Spray of bushtits


Ok!   I think that's QUITE a list!   In the Comments below, vote for your favorite.  And if you have yet another suggestion, I will add it tomorrow and we can include it as a possibility as well.

Enjoy!!

Just for fun, here's a link to my favorite video of a flock of bushtits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXsN2Ly59JM

Back in Portland....

......and the field season begins!

From now on, on good weather days when I can get out in the field, I'll be reporting what I see scattered with tidbits and details about the relevant behaviors.   My hope will be that blog readers will become as attached and interested by what goes on with the bushtits in Portland as I am.

Nests are being built, I am certain, so keep your eyes peeled for bushtits carrying nesting material --- especially big blobs of spiderweb.  Or their large hanging nests.

This one was right on Reed campus 2018 near a dorm and was very cryptic.  The parents were AXAA (Captain America) and FFFX (F-X).  One of the female juveniles showed a great deal of interest in the second nest for quite a while before they fledged, but never helped feeding.  Right before it fledged, some unknown predator ripped the bottom out of the nest, but not deep enough to get to the kids and all was fine!!   I couldn't find the nest of AXAA and FFFX last year although I looked.   I know they were still around because they visited the Reed suet feeder.  Ah well!!

The bushtit nesting season begins.......

I'm back from hot and humid Puerto Rico where I was visiting my daughter in the steaming jungle near Utuado...and it's the dry season.  I can't imagine what the wet season would be like.

In bushtit-land (re Portland, Oregon),  on Reed campus it seems that GYYX and LLRX are still hanging out together with one of GYYX's sons from last year and a female (GEEX....and that can only be pronounces Geex!) who was banded early in the season and at a nest that LLRX was a frequent curious visitor at.  That nest was destroyed by a crow when the poor kids were well along.  Sadly.  And I didn't find out what had happened to GEEX until just this week.  I'm happy to hear she's alive and well.  

I am pretty excited to see how things play out this year between GYYX (the good dad) and LLRX (the cad) with a young male in the mix.  If you're confused, see my earlier blog about LLRX and his shenanigans in 2018.  That year, I might add, GYYX was a "monogamous" (at least in appearances) father who lost his first nest to the dastardly crows, divorced wife #1, and rebuilt in another part of Reed campus to raise a healthy brood by the end of the season.  Interestingly, his final and successful nest in 2019 (he lost at least one early in the season) was only 2 feet from the remnants of his 2018 nest.  So, why didn't he just build there in the first place??

On a side note:   That's something I've seen over and over again.......bushtits building nests near successful old nests.  And it's not always the same birds.  Remember that bushtits live in highly social  flocks where everyone knows everyone else's business and nests are often fought over.  So it makes sense that a successful location would be remembered and reused.  Why not?  Location, location, location.

I'll be back in Portland mid-March and will hit the ground running to find nests.  In the meantime, thanks to Gary and Pat, I have an inkling of which old friends will still be around for me to learn more from.

Off I go.......

......on a 12 day trip to Puerto Rico.  So I probably won't be adding to this Blog until I return on the 20th.  And, BTW, bushtits are most certainly building their nests now :-)

Stay tuned!!!

Banded bushtits at Reed feeder

Gary Granger, whose office is right on the Reed College campus, has been a huge help in keeping me abreast of color-banded Reed bushtits over the winter.  Here are some wonderful pictures he sent to me from his feeder last winter.   Thank you, Gary!

Great photo with some of the color bands I mentioned in my last blog.
The bird on the upper left is GYYX.  You can just see his left leg under
him.  The bird next to him has two F bands and we can't see the other
leg.  So it would coded as FF??. I happen to know this is a female:
FFFX who we call "EffEx."

In this photo (on the left), you can see a YX on one leg (I happen to know this is GYYX).  On the right is a male with a bit of suet and two striped bands (AA).  He would be coded ??AA.  See?  Those striped bands aren't that bad, are they?  I know him and he is AXAA (affectionately referred to as Captain America)  

I'm posting this one because it's the best photo of an aluminum band.  You can
see that it looks white, but is longer than other bands

There are three banded birds in this photo!  Two are already in photos above: GYYX and AX?? (probably AXAA).
But the third, at the very top center, is a female banded XWRL ("ExWhirl"). She was paired with GYYX that year.  

Identifying banded bushtits

If you live anywhere in Portland, Oregon (or anywhere else on the Pacific coast) and have a suet feeder, you undoubtedly have bushtits arriving in elfish swarms during the colder months.  If you live near Reed College or Oaks Bottom or even Westmoreland Park, you may have even noticed some with color-bands.  Those little guys have been banded by me over the last few years and they each have their own private life stories.  Some stories are long and complicated and others are simple.  But they are all insights into interesting bushtit lives. Or at least I think so.  But I'm just a tad prejudiced :-)

I mentioned in a previous blog that I have two people who have been regularly sending me updates about banded birds at their feeders:  one on the Reed campus and the other near the edge of Oaks Bottom.  And I am delighted every time I hear from them!   Because of their interest and reports I know who is happily surviving the winter and who they are hanging out with.

But there are more of you out there!   Just yesterday, a woman I know who lives a few blocks from Oaks Bottom noticed, for the first time, a banded bird at her feeder.  And several times I have received notice from the Federal banding lab that someone has reported banded birds near Reed.  Occasionally birders give me updates and even pictures of banded birds they have seen.  I appreciate them all!   Last year a birder send me a picture of bird I hadn't seen since the previous year.  That was nice surprise!

I gave a brief primer about how to read bands a few posts ago.  Today I'm going to give you the colors and their symbols so that when you do see banded bushtits (there may even be some left in Discovery Park in Seattle), you will be able to read the bands.  If you can do that, I can let you know who you saw and what their life history is:  where they had a nest and who they were paired with and who they hang out with.  Chances are they'll be back and you will soon be friends :-)

Here are the colors I use and their symbols.  BTW, a few birds (hatched last year) only have two bands:  one on each leg and one of those is aluminum.

X = aluminum  (This is the Federal USGS band.  It is slightly longer than the others and silver.)
R = red  (I have two slightly different reds, but they are both coded "R.")
L = dark blue   (This is a very dark blue that is easily told from the lighter versions.)
O = orange  (Very bright and very rare.)
B = black (This is a color I try to avoid because bushtits have black legs!)
Y - yellow (Very bright!)
W = white (The one most often mistaken for aluminum, especially if soiled.)
P = purple (In some circles this is also called "mauve."  It is isn't a deep purple.)
G = avocado green  (I have several greens.  This is not dark or bright. A deceptive color.)
E = dark green (Almost evergreen, but brighter.)
N=  neon and lightish green
U = light blue


Striped (two-color) bands (You may think I'm crazy.  Bushtit bands are small enough without being striped!! ):
A = striped red and dark blue ( This one isn't too bad.)
F = striped avocado and purple (Very hard to read.)
C = striped orange and yellow (I don't know why I bothered!)
M = red and white striped (candy cane!)

So there it is (almost all).  If you see color-banded bushtits, please let me know who and where.  I would love that information.  BTW, this is NOT easy, so don't feel bad if all you see is "yellow on one of the legs."  That may be all I need if I have a location.

YYXP:  A male in Discovery Park.  Terrible picture!  But in this picture you can see  his X over P

YYXP:  And in this picture you can see the Y over Y (and a beakful of nesting material.)