Tufted Titmouse

Baeolophus bicolor

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARIDAE

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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

A common bird of forest and feeders in the eastern United States, the Tufted Titmouse is often seen foraging in groups with other birds. It is quick to scold predators and is easily attracted to the mobbing calls of other species.

Cool Facts

• Beginning in the 1940s, the Tufted Titmouse began expanding its range northward. Previous to that it was found only as far north as Iowa, Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Explanations offered for the expansion include global warming, the maturation of abandoned farmlands to forest, and increased number of winter bird feeders.

• The Black-crested Titmouse of Texas and Mexico has at times been considered just a form of the Tufted Titmouse. The two species hybridize where they meet, but the hybrid zone is narrow and stable over time. They differ slightly in the quality of their calls, and show genetic differences as well.

• Unlike many chickadees, Tufted Titmouse pairs do not join larger flocks outside of the breeding season. Instead, most remain on the territory as a pair. Frequently one of their young from that year remains with them, and occasionally other juveniles from other places will join them. Rarely a young titmouse remains with its parents into the breeding season and will help them raise the next year's brood.

Description

• Size: 14-16 cm (6-6 in)
• Wingspan: 20-26 cm (8-10 in)
• Weight: 18-26 g (0.64-0.92 ounces)

• Small gray songbird.
• Short tuft on head.
• Eye black and prominent in pale gray face.

• Black square on forehead.
• Crest gray.
• Flanks rusty.
• Whitish belly and chest.
• Bill black.
• Legs gray.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but crest is short, the black forehead is lacking, and the flanks are faintly tinged with pinkish buff.

Similar Species

• The "plain" titmice, the Oak and Juniper titmice, do not overlap with the Tufted Titmouse, but can be distinguished by their lack of black forehead, darker gray undersides, and lack of rusty coloration in the flanks.
• The Black-crested Titmouse is nearly identical with the Tufted Titmouse, except the adult has a white forehead and a black crest.

Sound

Song a loud, whistled "peter, peter, peter, peter." Call a scratchy, chickadee-like "tsee-day-day-day." Also fussy scolding notes.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from southern Minnesota, northern Michigan, southern Ontario and southern Vermont, southward to northeastern Mexico and the Gulf Coast.

Habitat

Deciduous forest, swamps, orchards, parks, and suburban areas.

Food

Insects and seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects from bark and foliage. Hangs upside down to reach insects. Travels with mixed species foraging flocks. Holds food under feet to peck it.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in hole in tree. Built of leaves, moss, dried grass, hair, strips of bark, and sometimes feathers. Lined with hair or similar material.

Egg Description

White, finely speckled with reddish dots.
Incubation period 12-14 days.

Clutch Size

3-9 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with only tufts of down.
Chicks fledge in 15-16 days.

Conservation Status

Common. Populations increasing and expanding range northward.

Other Names

Mésange bicolor (French)
Paro, Copetoncito norteño (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Grubb, T. C., and V. V. Pravosudov. 1994. Tufted Titmouse (Parus bicolor). In The Birds of North America, No. 86 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.