Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse is among the cutest of our backyard birds.  Their large dark eye is surrounded by white feathers, giving them the appearance of having cartoonishly large eyes.  Their crest makes them seem very expressive, with the crest raising higher when they are agitated or excited.  Their name is a combination of the root “tit,” meaning something small, and the adjective “maisa,” meaning little or tiny.  Because the “mouse” part of the name is not related to the rodent of the same name, the plural of titmouse should technically be titmouses.  However, practically everyone (myself included) uses the plural titmice.

Tufted Titmice are nearly, but not quite, endemic to the United States (endemic means that they are found only in a particular region).  Years ago, they were found in United States and northern Mexico, but that changed in 2002 when researchers realized that the titmice in Mexico and southern Texas were a different species, the Black-crested Titmouse.  Titmice are still not endemic, though, because their range has expanded northward in to parts of southern Ontario and Quebec.  The northern range expansion is partly due to changing climate, but largely due to the bird feeders offered by our Canadian neighbors.

Titmice are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of insects, spiders, seeds, and fruit.  They’ve even learned to check roads during the fall to eat pieces of acorns crushed by passing cars.  Watch for titmice at any time of year in the Susquehanna Valley.  They visit feeders year-round, but they’ll visit more frequently when the weather gets colder when insects and spiders are harder to find.  They work hard to cache food, hiding it for later use.  Encourage titmice to visit your yard by offering their favorites, including peanuts, sunflower seeds, suet, and Bark Butter and Bark Butter Bits.