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Baeolophus bicolor

Tufted titmouse
Baeolophus bicolor 15.jpeg
Adult singing
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Infraclass: Neognathae
Superorder: Neoaves
Order: Passeriformes
Suborder: Passeri
Infraorder: Passerida
Family: Paridae
Genus: Baeolophus
Species: B. bicolor
Binomial name
Baeolophus bicolor
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Tufted Titmouse-rangemap.gif
Combined range of tufted titmouse and black-crested titmouse

The tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family (Paridae). The black-crested titmouse, found from central and southern Texas southwards, was included as a subspecies but is now considered a separate species B. atricristatus.

These birds have grey upperparts and white underparts with a white face, a grey crest, a dark forehead and a short stout bill; they have rufous-coloured flanks. The song is usually described as a whistled peter-peter-peter. They make a variety of different sounds, most having a similar tone quality.

The habitat is deciduous and mixed woods as well as gardens, parks and shrubland in the eastern United States; they barely range into southeastern Canada in the Great Lakes region. They are all-year residents in the area effectively circumscribed by the Great Plains, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The range is expanding northwards, possibly due to increased availability of winter food at bird feeders. The birds are nowadays resident all year even in rural Ohio where there are few bird feeders, while it was noted around 1905 that many birds from these areas migrated south in winter.

They forage actively on branches, sometimes on the ground, mainly eating insects, especially caterpillars, but also seeds, nuts and berries. They will store food for later use. They tend to be curious about their human neighbors and can sometimes be spotted on window ledges peering into the windows to watch what's going on inside. They are more shy when seen at bird feeders; their normal pattern there is to scout the feeder from the cover of trees or bushes, fly to the feeder, take a seed, and fly back to cover to eat it.


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Wikipedia

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