Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) Stocking up Before the Storm

Tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2013

As I write today's entry, it is February 8th and it is snowing. We're expecting a nor'easter with two feet of snow or more in the next 24 hours. It's windy and we are under a blizzard warning. One might think that those are not very good conditions for finding wildlife in one's yard. One would be wrong.

Whenever it snows, natural food sources get covered up. For those, like myself, who put out bird feeders in the winter months, you will often notice much higher traffic around snowstorms. During the very worst of the weather, many birds will stay put. During lulls and before and after the storm, however, they will redouble their efforts to secure enough calories to keep their metabolisms fueled through the storm.

A variety of bird feeder types with a variety of bird feeds will give you the best opportunity to attract a wide variety of bird species. Today, among other bird species, I have a tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) visiting my feeders. It seems to prefer the safflower seeds to the other available offerings.

According to the Cornell Ornithology Lab, the tufted titmouse will pick up a seed from a bird feeder in the winter and store it for later, making repeated trips to build up a cache of food. This is fairly common among feeder birds, watch and see which ones take a seed and fly off repeatedly. Chances are they are storing them somewhere else rather than eating them immediately. Although the tufted titmouse often uses a cache location that is different than its nest location, some birds will lead you right back to their nest holes with each trip if you can follow them.

Today, as the snow storm approaches, the tufted titmouse, like many humans, is stocking up on groceries to get it through the rough weather.

Identifying birds can be a complicated science, but if you learn just one bird at a time, eventually you'll be able to reliably identify almost any bird you might find in your area. The tufted titmouse is a relatively easy choice with which to start.



First, as its name suggests, it is tufted. That means it has a raised group of feathers on its head that are reminiscent of the feathered crest of an ancient helmet. In fact, the word tuft is derived from the Latin word tufa which means helmet crest.

Description of the Tufted Titmouse

The tufted titmouse is about the same size (slightly bigger) than the well known black-capped chickadee. The feathers of its upper body are blue-grey in color while its underbody is mainly white. A light rusty-orange splash of color can be seen on the flanks. There will be a small patch of black right above the beak which is itself black. The bird's legs and feet are blue-grey. The eyes are very dark and rest on a light background that may be a mix of the white of the underbody with a bit of the steely blue-grey of the upper body.

Here in New Hampshire, I am at the northern end of the range of the tufted titmouse. Its range extends south to Florida and west to about the middle of the country. It can be found throughout its range all year round.

Quick facts about the Tufted Titmouse:
Diet: The tufted titmouse is primarily an eater of seeds and nuts during the winter, when it is most often found visiting backyard bird feeders. In the summer, it is an aggressive hunter of insects.

Life Cycle: Breeding season is April to July. Nests are made by lining holes that it finds in trees with softer material such as leaves or moss. The female lays 3-9 eggs which hatch about 13 days after being laid. Within 16 days, says the University of Georgia's Museum of Natural History, the newly hatched birds leave the nest and are ready to take care of themselves.

Lifespan: Cornell says that a tufted titmouse has been observed to live as long as 13.25 years in the wild.

IUCN Red List Status: The IUCN lists the tufted titmouse as a species of least concern due to large numbers and widespread habitat. Its numbers are reported to be increasing, perhaps due to the ready availability of seed from bird feeders during the winter.

Interesting Notes: The tufted titmouse cannot carve out the holes in which it nests, but relies of those created by woodpeckers or the natural growth of the tree.

Update May 3rd, 2015: Although we always have Tufted Titmice around our yard, this is the first time we have been able to locate one of their nests. As I noted above, they use existing cavities for nesting sites. This one was left behind when a branch fell off a big, old birch tree in our front yard. It is perhaps forty feet off the ground. The inside of the hole will be lined with moss and other soft things to make a cushion and insulate the eggs. We watched the male and female make repeated trips to and from the nest.

Taxonomy of the Tufted Titmouse

Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Chordata
Phylum: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Baeolophus
Species: Baeolophus bicolor