Bush Tit Nest - Just hanging around.

Bush tit nests are unusual.  I photographed this on the Okanagan rail trail near Winfield, BC.  

Saturday found a friend and I walking along the Okanagan rail trail near Winfield, BC.  There were several grey-coloured bag-shaped things hanging from several trees beside the path.  I looked at them, wondering what they were.  Possibly debris of some sort that had been blown up into the crown, or maybe some article of clothing that had become discoloured over the years.  Then, it occurred to me.  These had to be the nests of bush tits.

The bag or sock nest of bush tits are made from grasses, mosses, and other vegetable matter woven together eith spider webs making them somewhat elastic.  The bowlshaped end is well insulated and is lined with feathers and fur.  The enterance is at the top.  The ones I saw were high up in trees; it would be unlikely for a snake to make its way up there.  The birds take up to a month to make the nest and camoflague it by covering it with leaves and moss.

Here is a link to a YouTube site showing a bush tit adding bedding material to its nest.  The nest in the video looks similar to the photo I took two days ago.  The nests I saw were older, probably from last summer, which is why they are grey in colour.

Bush tits generally do not use the nests the following season as they are often destroyed over winter and probably lose much of their elasticity.  However, if they have a second brood during the same breeding season, they will reuse the one they originally constructed.

It was cool to see these nests and know what it was I was looking at.  I had wanted to see them in real life instead of in photos, and although the nests were old and abandoned, it was still an awsome experience.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com