Psaltriparus minimus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 15 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bushtit sighting in Yosemite National Park on a given day, based on 176 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 84th most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–June and November–March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bushtit in Yosemite National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April and July–October, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bushtit sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Bushtit sightings, Yosemite National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 40%), Guadalupe Mountains National Park (United States, about 30%) and Grand Canyon National Park (United States, about 30%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Bushtit that you can see in Yosemite National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Dark-eyed Junco (about 80%), Steller's Jay (about 80%) and Common Raven (about 80%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bushtit is recorded against all the birds logged in Yosemite National Park (176 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
