Oak Titmouse In A Photinia Bush photo by Larry Jordan
The Oak Titmouse is a very cute little bird belonging to the tit family Paridae. They are found in the Oak and Oak-Pine forests from southern Oregon, through California , to Baja California. One of their most endearing qualities for me is there many calls and chatter. My favorite call sounds something like; snibit, snibit, snibit, usually in three consecutive notes. But they have many other calls you can hear, here.
Oak Titmouses pair up usually in their first year and mate for life. They are the first cavity nesters here in Northern California, finishing their season, usually before the Western Bluebirds begin. You can see some of my photos of their chicks in the nest here.
The favorite food of the Oak Titmouse are spiders and insects captured from the bark of the tree or hawked in mid air. They also take readily to suet feeders and they love sunflower seeds which they take one at a time from the feeder, up to a tree branch, and pound them open to extract the meat.
I am curious to know how my favorite little tit compares to the Tufted Titmouse of the east. If you have any experiences with the Tufted Titmouse, feel free to share.
If you love bird photographs, go see some more great captures at Bird Photography Weekly.
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I don’t have any nesting boxes up , but I usually see a pair of titmice at the woodpecker feeder where all the really good nuts are. In the summer they have brought fledge to the feeders too. I love listening to their “peter…peter..peter.”….
The Tufted Titmice in our area (n. Illinois) are spazzy little bundles of energy and are always up for a fight. I’ve seen them diving on a Cooper’s Hawk while a Blue Jay sheepishly squawked from a safe distance.
They are not nearly as common at our feeders compared to nuthatches and chickadees, as they seem to be closer to heavier wooded areas.
Birdfreaks last blog post..Illinois Audubon Society Bald Eagle Weekend 2009
@Ramblingwoods one of my favorite things is to watch all the fledglings learning how to grow up into adult titmouses
@Eddy thanks for the great Titmouse behavior story! They are tough little guys aren’t they?
Excellent shot and an informative writeup. We dont have these birds in this side of the world. Thanks for sharing
Toms last blog post..Little Grebe Fishing
@Tom thanks for stopping by. I loved your colorful little grebe!
I’d love to know how you got that titmouse to pose for you 🙂 The couple that have visited our yard refuse to sit still for more than a second, and when they have, their crest was down.
I’m so jealous!
Reds last blog post..Bird Photography Weekly #22
@Red this guy was sitting in the bush right next to my back porch for what must have been at least a minute. I think I snapped about 20 captures of this little guy. The Titmouses are beginning to exhibit mating behavior and this guy was just sitting in one spot, kind of dancing and moving his head back and forth looking around and singing his heart out.
I think I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time 😉
Larry, is there any particular specs on a birdhouse these might like?
Reds last blog post..Bird Photography Weekly #24
@Red the Oak Titmouse family fits perfectly into a regular bluebird house. They will use an entrance hole from 1 1/4″ to 1 1/2″. You can get the plans for this nest box and many others on my “Resources” page over in the right side panel ———–>