If you have a large part of your yard that you want to use for bird watching, then you may want to consider attracting tufted titmouse to your backyard. This is small, but extremely attractive species can provide you with some fascinating photos and sounds from a quiet backyard.
However, if you do not know how to attract this unique bird to your yard, it is best to stick around and read the full article so that I can help you learn the right techniques to use to attract this species.
Table of Contents
Identification
Tufted titmouse is a small-sized bird with a crest of gray feathers on its head. It has gray upper parts, rust-colored accents underneath the wings, and a grayish-white underbelly, with a black patch above the bill.
- Length: 5.1-6.4 in (13-16.5 cm)
- Weight: 0.6-0.95 oz (17-27 g)
- Wingspan: 7.9-10.4 in (20-26.5 cm)
Habitat
The tufted titmouse is a species of titmouse found throughout the United States. These birds are most commonly seen in woodlands, forested areas, backyards, and parks. The tufted titmouse prefers wooded areas with small trees and bushes.
Food Preferences by Season
- Mid-summer to early-fall (breeding): crickets and flying insects. You can easily attract these birds by providing food sources like millet seeds, butterflies, ants, flies, and meal worms.
- In winter, their food source is – eggs, grubs, spiders, moths, beetles, dragonflies, and lacewings.
Use a Bird feeder
To attract them, hang bird feeders in your yard. I would recommend using suet feeders, and platform feeders filled with peanut butter suet, or black-oil sunflower seeds. These recommended product links will redirect you to Amazon.
The best place for bird feeders is to hang them from a nearby tree or plant. By providing small food sources, and hanging bird feeders where they can see these food sources they can easily be attracted.
Have a mixture of fruits such as berries, grapes, apples, and nuts like peanut kernels and black-oil sunflower seed on hand. These types of foods will keep them active.
Get a Bird Bath
Tufted titmice like to bathe in water, so if you want to attract them with a birdbath, then make sure there is always some water available for them to drink from or splash around in. You should place the birdbath near your bird feeder. You can find a high quality birdbath like this one, on Amazon for a great price.
Attracting them with Plants
The titmouse is very attracted to certain nut trees and berry bushes. Plant some berry bushes like elderberry, bayberry or trees such as birch, beech, maple, oak, hickory or pine trees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What seeds do Tufted Titmice eat?
They live in woodland areas and feed on a variety of seeds including pine nuts, juniper berries, wildflowers, and more. If they find their way into your backyard you can offer them bird seed, sunflower seeds, black oil sunflower seeds, or other things such as raisins or suet cakes to feed them.
What is a flock of Titmice called?
A flock of titmice is called a mob, colony, congregation, or company of titmice. There are many types of behavior exhibited by this group, including fighting and playing, which is also known as banditry and dissimulation respectively.
Do Tufted Titmouse eat mealworms?
Tufted Titmice enjoy eating mealworms when they can find them. Mealworms are actually beetles that have been killed by freezing then cooked to a crisp before being put into containers with airtight lids, so they stay fresh for a long time. Mealworms can be purchased at most pet stores either live or frozen form.
Is Tufted Titmouse friendly?
The tufted titmouse is known for its friendly nature towards humans. Often, they will allow a human to get very close to them without fleeing away. They are quite used to people and can often be seen eating at bird feeders in yards or perched on telephone wires.
Are Titmice aggressive?
Titmice are not as aggressive as their larger counterparts, but they can be territorial when it comes to their nest sites. The male titmouse will defend his territory around the female’s nesting site by attacking any intruders with a barrage of chirps and attacks until he feels threatened enough to fly away.
Do Titmice eat fruit?
These birds also feed mainly on insects and seeds during the summer months, but migrate south for winter where they will eat fruit such as apples, grapes, berries, figs, persimmons, peaches and nectar.
Is the Tufted Titmouse endangered?
The Tufted Titmouse is not endangered. In the Red List of Threatened Species, it is classified as “Least Concern”. This means that the Tufted Titmouse has a stable population and no significant threat to its survival.
What is the range of a Tufted Titmouse?
Tufted Titmice live in the forests of North America, South America, and Central America. They can also be found in the western half of Canada and United States, parts of Mexico, most of Central America and some Caribbean islands. This is an extensive range for such a small bird!
