Oak Titmouse

Overview

The oak titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) is a small passerine bird within the tit family that was split from the plain titmouse in 1996 due to distinct differences in song, habitat, and genetic makeup. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, though its populations face threats from habitat fragmentation and climate change.

Identification

• A small, brown-tinged gray bird with a small tuft or crest, featuring a plain face and lighter gray undersides with little to no sexual dimorphism.
• Distinguished from the similar juniper titmouse by a browner back and a song consisting of a repeated series of three to seven syllables, each comprising one low and one high note.
• Vocalises with a scratchy 'tsicka-dee-dee' call, with males singing more frequently in spring from open branches.

Habitat

Resident on the Pacific slope from southern Oregon south through California to Baja California, surrounding the central San Joaquin Valley, it prefers open woodlands of warm, dry oak and oak-pine at low to mid-elevations. It typically inhabits coast live oak and valley oak woodlands, which provide necessary cavities, dense foliage, and twig piles for nesting.

Diet

Eats insects and spiders, sometimes catching insects in mid-air, and also consumes berries, acorns, and seeds. Forages on foliage, twigs, branches, trunks, and occasionally on the ground, sometimes hanging upside down or hammering seeds against branches to open them, and is attracted to feeders with suet, peanut butter, and sunflower seeds.

Did you know?

Breeding time for the oak titmouse has recently been shown to delay by around 20 days per decade due to rising temperatures, leading to reduced resiliency in reacting to climate change.