Have a little fun with our Birds of the Month Online Jigsaw Puzzles.
Learn more about these featured feathered friends with our Birds of the Month Online Crossword Puzzle.
The large, dark, fluid black eyes of titmice seem to be their defining characteristic. They also seem to re-enforce these birds intense and energetic temperament.
Members of the titmouse family are all quick and vigorous in their movements, darting and dashing among the branches but seldom indulging in long flights. In the winter they can be particularly intense as they cache food items throughout their territory.
Titmice forage together with chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and Brown Creepers during winter months. Tufted Titmice typically selects one seed from a feeder at a time. They'll then shell it and hide the kernel within 130 feet of the feeder from which they obtained it.
Titmice hoard food items by scattering them one by one under loose bark and in small crevices. They apparently can remember the exact location of each item they hide for weeks or even months. Some authorities believe this amazing memory retention is associated with the fact that the hippocampus region of a titmouse’s brain enlarges in fall, and shrinks in the spring. This is the portion of the brain responsible for short-term memory.
The Bridled Titmouse, unlike the other titmice species, does not hide seeds for future use. Its hippocampus is small compared to other titmice and shows no seasonal variation in size.
Titmice are one of a few perching birds that can use their feet to hold seeds while they break them open.
Titmice do not excavate their own nesting cavity. Instead, they use natural holes in trees and abandoned cavities excavated by woodpeckers, and flickers. Young Tufted Titmice often remain with their parents throughout their first winter. On rare occasions, a young Tufted Titmouse will stay with its parents into the next nesting season and help its parents raise the next brood.
Titmice have an alarm call that seems to fade off into the distance, giving the impression that the bird is moving from one place to another. Tufted Titmice often give a high-pitched alarm call in response to a hawk flying overhead.
