Bridled Titmouse

Bridled Titmouse

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

The most strikingly marked of the American titmice and chickadees, the Bridled Titmouse has a black bib and a white-and-black patterned face. Primarily a Mexican species, its range reaches the United States only in the southern mountains of Arizona and New Mexico.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Crest on head is gray bordered with black and white.
• Black-and-white face.

• Size: 10 cm (4 in)
• Weight: 10 g (0.35 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Sound

Song a series of repeated whistled notes, "peeta-peeta-peeta." Call a low, harsh "tsi-tsi-tsi-di-di-di-di."

Conservation Status

Limited range in United States makes populations there uncertain. In Mexico, it is vulnerable to the loss of oak woodlands, but the species is widespread.

Other Names

Mésange Arlequin (French)
Herrelillo enmascarado (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Unlike many members of its family, the Bridled Titmouse appears not to hide food for later use. The region of the brain related to memory of spatial location, the hippocampus, is small in this species compared with other species that frequently hide food.

• The Bridled Titmouse is the only North American member of its family that appears to have helpers at the nest regularly. The identity and sex of the extra birds attending nests is not yet known.

• The Bridled Titmouse closely resembles the Crested Tit of Eurasia. Genetic studies show, however, that it is closely related to the other North American titmice.

Sources used to construct this page:

Nocedal, J., and M. S. Ficken. 1998. Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi).In The Birds of North America, No. 375 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.