Juniper Titmouse

Juniper Titmouse, Chiricahua Mountains, AZ

About the photographs

About the map

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

Formerly lumped with the Oak Titmouse in the species known appropriately as Plain Titmouse, the Juniper Titmouse is found primarily in the Great Basin.

Cool Facts

• The incubating female sits very tight on the nest while incubating, and will hiss like a snake if disturbed.

Description

• Weight: 13-23 g (0.46-0.81 ounces)

• Small gray bird with small tuft on head.

• Gray on back.
• Lighter gray on underparts.
• Dark eye.
• Small dark bill.
• Relatively long tail.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but feathers are softer and more loosely textured.

Similar Species

• Nearly identical to Oak Titmouse. Slightly smaller, and without brown on back. Ranges overlap only in small area in California.
• Tufted Titmouse has whiter belly, rusty flanks, and black on the forehead.

Sound

Song a rolling series of notes given on the same pitch. Calls a scratchy "tsicka-dee-dee."

Range

Range Map

© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Resident from southern Oregon to Idaho, southward to New Mexico and Arizona. Also in very western Texas and extreme northeastern Sonora, Mexico.

Habitat

Warm, dry open woodland, especially juniper woodlands.

Food

Seeds and terrestrial invertebrates. Uses bird feeders.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects from bark and foliage. Hangs upside down. Hammers seeds against branch to open them.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in hole in tree, built of grass, shredded bar, and hair. Uses nest boxes.

Egg Description

White, unmarked or with minute reddish brown speckling.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

No special status.

Other Names

Mésange des génévriers (French)

Sources used to construct this page:

Cicero, C. 2000. Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) and Juniper Titmouse ( Baeolophus ridgwayi). In The Birds of North America, No. 485 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.