Titmices
Small, active and acrobatic are all apt descriptions of the Tufted
Titmouse. These tiny birds are friendly and fun to watch as they search
for insects under the fallen leaves, along the trunks of trees and well
as in the tree tops. The bird family of Titmice (Paridae) includes 65
species, 12 of which reside in North America. Along with the Tufted
Titmouse, the chickadees, Plain Titmouse, Bridled Titmouse, Oak Titmouse
and the Juniper Titmouse can be found in the U.S. The birds in the
titmouse family are sparrow-sized, with a gray color, lighter
undersides,perky tufted heads and large inquisitive bright dark eyes.
Their beaks are short cone-shaped beak. Male and female titmice look
alike. Tufted Titmice are the normal gray color with their lower parts
light gray and their flanks will be a rusty orange color. They have a
black forehead while the area around the eyes is light gray. And
although the Tufted Titmouse is the largest titmouse, it is only 6.5
inches long, has a wingspan of 10.75 inches and weighs a mere 0.8 ounce!The Tufted Titmouse can be found over nearly the entire eastern half of the US during both the summer and winter. These non-migratory birds can be found in deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests, preferably near swamps and riversides. The Tufted Titmouse, sometimes called a Sugar Bird, or Tomtit, is active and agile, hanging upside down from small branches to feed on insects. They are sociable birds and can be seen in mixed flocks with chickadees and nuthatches. Not sure if that quick moving bird high in the branches is a Tufted Titmouse? Listen to its song. Its song is a loud clear whistle: "Peter, Peter, Peter". Tufted Titmice are usually eat insects and spiders by clinging to trunks of trees and branches, but in winter when not many insects are available, these titmice vary their diet with berries, nuts and seeds. Fill your hopper feeders with shelled peanuts or black oil sunflower feed to bring them closer to your windows. Watch them closely and you might spy them using their beak to pound open the shell while holding the seed with its feet. You can also try putting out grapes or apple chunks on a platform feeder. Peanut butter suet is extremely tempting to them so fill up a suet feeder with it or even smear it on a tree trunk where they'll discover the treat while climbing all over the trunk. If you can add a few trees or bushes to your yard, you'll make it more attractive to these birds. Try planting evergreens, oaks, bayberry, mulberry, crabapples, blueberries blackberries, grapes, serviceberries or even lots of sunny sunflowers. These small birds are cavity-dwellers, nesting in the wild in old woodpecker holes or tree cavities. In your yard, put up nesting boxes mounted about 5-10 foot off the ground in an area with trees. Make sure they see your birdhouse by placing some nesting material stuffed into a suet holder and hang it near the house from March to July when they are busy breeding.
» Description: The Tufted Titmouse is an active, noisy, and conspicuously vocal bird whose typical song is a loud whistled peter peter peter. Both sexes have a distinctive black forehead and gray crest. The upperparts are gray, with slightly darker gray flight feathers. The lores are pale buff. The face and underparts are white with rufous flanks. The dark eye and eye ring are prominent on the white face.
» The Tufted Titmouse's range throughtout the eastern United States has grown steadily northward during this century. This expansion may be linked to the growing number of people feeding birds each year
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