Following on from our last post where I wrote about the abundance of insect life in Los Angeles I wanted to share some home shots of the bird life we are now seeing. Martin took these pictures over the weekend through our kitchen window and thought you may like to see this young brood of bush tits. Yes, I know the name makes one giggle but the birds themselves also make me smile and so I encourage you to print them out as we have and stick them on a nearby wall as mood enhancer.
This family of 4 bush tits and mum are nesting in a nearby tree that offers more dense foliage cover but perch in our guava tree to feed off the aphids and small flies that are drawn by the sweet guava flowers and leaves. They share this prime spot with humming birds that roost in the tree and feed from the stamens of the guava flowers and with the occasional unwelcome squirrel that enjoys the flowers in their entirety. While the squirrels do pose a threat to mother’s incubating eggs they do not pose a threat to the fledglings.
The fledglings are very small being about1.75” from head to claw and 3” from head to tail and when mature will travel along with other family members flitting from tree to tree in flocks of 15+. The bush tits are garden friendly and do a great job of removing aphids from tree leaves.
While Martin is often able to draw inspiration from nature in his handle designs and has used the scrub jay birds as natural models for his bird handles he has no immediate plans to develop bush tit handles but is happy that their chirpy good looks are now positioned as colorful prints over his Wacom tablet.