"My hypothesis is that the bushtits use their numbers as a way to compete for
the suet, and it works."--Rob Sandelin
The Bushtits in my yard have Jays to contend with, but 3 suet feeders. Alan fills the Jay feeder with peanuts in the shell before he leaves at 6 a.m. Generally, the Jays work the feeder in a leisurely manner until only a dozen or so peanuts remain. Then there's a feeding frenzy of 7 to 10 noisy, aggressive, and endlessly beautiful Jays filling the long (120'), narrow (25') strip of yard until the last birds sit high in the branches eyeing the empty box, or poke around the yard looking for dropped bits, or scold me sitting in the window watching.

The Bushtits have a different tactic for my yard. They don't show up until mid-morning, when they hope the Jays are done. Often, 8-12 scouts come in to try to grab a mouthful and check things out. If one or two Jays are leisurely working the box, they will put on the speed and chase the Bushtits away, or at least clear a 30' radius around their box. Not easily discouraged, the Bushtits wait a bit and then send 20 birds at a better time. If the coast is clear, another 20 or 30 birds show up as if by magic. Throughout a good day, it's not unusual for me to see 20-40 Bushtits passing through every hour or two. Those that can't squeeze between the swarms of little bodies on the blocks head down to the birdbath for a refreshing dip while they wait their turn.

I've also seen both the Jays and the Bushtits bring out our Varied Thrushes--3 so far this winter, including the female that's lived here since the day after Thanksgiving. Although there's plenty of natural food for the thrushes, they seem to covet the Jays peanuts. Yesterday, a Jay dropped the peanut it was working on and the Thrush below grabbed it! A chase ensued with the Thrush acquiesing, but returning to position once the Jay resumed it's nutcracking activity. The one nut-suet feeder may be the reason the thrushes come out for the Bushtits.

Patricia Lott

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Seattle, WA
VariedThrush at comcast.net