Bridled Titmouse

Overview

The bridled titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi) is a small passerine bird in the family Paridae, the tits and chickadees. It is found in Mexico and the United States.

Identification

• Approximately 10 cm long, with a distinct crest and uniform plumage between sexes.
• Features a black crown and crest with a large deep gray central patch, a black line through the eye continuing as an arc behind the ear coverts, and a white face and neck.
• Upperparts are deep olive gray, while the breast is pale olive gray becoming pale olive buffy on the belly.
• Vocalisations include a rapid series of six to eight low, clear, whistled phrases described as "pidi pidi pidi" and a chickadee-like chatter.

Habitat

The species inhabits oak and oak-pine-juniper woodlands in the United States, extending to oak and pine-oak woodlands and oak savanna in Mexico. It generally occupies elevations between 1,200 and 2,700 m, though it can occur as low as 300 m in southern Mexico.

Diet

The bridled titmouse feeds mostly on adult and larval insects, adding acorn pulp to its diet in winter. It forages by gleaning from foliage, trunks, twigs, and within acorns and galls, often joining mixed-species feeding flocks during the winter months.

Did you know?

The species is unusual among the family Paridae because some pairs have a third individual associated with them that helps provision nestlings and with nest defence.