Birds Posters
Titmouse
The Titmouse bird, also called tit, plural titmice are small cheery voiced nonmigratory woodland bird.
Along with the chickadees, titmice make up the family Paridae with 46 species throughout the world, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Oak Titmouse is a small, brown tinged gray bird with small tuft or crest. The face is plain, and the undersides are a lighter gray.
Sexes are similar, as there is very little to no sexual dimorphism.
This species lives year round on the Pacific slope, resident from southern Oregon south through California west of the Sierra Nevada to Baja California,
but its range surrounds the central San Joaquin Valley.
It prefers open woodlands of warm, dry oak and oak pine at low to mid elevations but can also be found in forests as long as adequate oak trees are present.
Although they range in size from 11.5 to 20 cm, most fall in the middle of this range 17 cm.
Despite their small size, they are extremely athletic and hardy. Many live in the far north and are able to endure bitter cold.
The Oak Titmouse mates for life, and pairs defend year round territories.
Unlike other members of the family, they do not form flocks in winter.
Oak Titmice eat insects and spiders, and are sometimes seen catching insects in midair.
They also eat berries, acorns, and some seeds.
The Oak Titmouse sleeps in cavities or in dense foliage.
When roosting in foliage, the titmouse chooses a twig surrounded by dense foliage or an accumulation of dead pine needles, simulating a roost in a cavity.
The Black crested Titmouse has an alarm call that is a loud scold that fades away, causing predators to think they are fleeing while they actually stay safely hidden nearby.
They will eat snow when liquid water is not available.
To eat acorns, they will hold them with their feet and pound them open with their bills.