NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
American Bushtit
Psaltriparus minimus (J. K. Townsend, 1837)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
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.
Wikipedia contributors, American bushtit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:24:21.443127+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Psaltriparus minimus (J. K. Townsend, 1837)
- Name authority
- (J. K. Townsend, 1837)
- Common name
- American Bushtit
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Aegithalidae
- Genus
- Psaltriparus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyAegithalidae
- genusPsaltriparus Bonaparte, 1850
- speciesPsaltriparus minimus (J. K. Townsend, 1837)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=178764 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4NB5F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.