Black-crested Titmouse

Baeolophus atricristatusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)

Related Birds

Juniper Titmouse
Oak Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse
Bridled Titmouse

General

Black-crested Titmouse: Large titmouse with gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, and rust-brown flanks. Head has black cap and crest, pale gray face, and pale eye-ring. Wings and tail are gray. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller.

Range and Habitat

Black-crested Titmouse: Native to southern Texas, Oklahoma and east-central Mexico. Common wherever trees grow, deciduous, heavy timber or urban shade trees. Perfers to nest in cavities in trees, telephone poles, fence posts and bird boxes.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"peto,peto,peto", "peter-peter-peter"

Interesting Facts

The Black-crested Titmouse has an alarm call that is a loud scold that fades away, causing predators to think they are fleeing while they actually stay safely hidden nearby.

To eat acorns, they will hold them with their feet and pound them open with their bills.

They will eat snow when liquid water is not available.

A group of titmice are collectively known as a "banditry" and a "dissimulation" of titmice.

Author

David Lukas

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Black-crested Titmouse

Black-crested Titmouse: Large titmouse with gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, and rust-brown flanks. The head has black cap and crest, pale gray face, and pale eye-ring. Wings and tail are gray. Gray legs and feet. Was once considered a subspecies of the Tufted Titmouse. AKA Mexican Titmouse.

● Song: "peto,peto,peto", "peter-peter-peter"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black-crested Titmouse: Eats insects, spiders, snails, various berries, acorns, and seeds. Forages in trees, sometimes upside down; often in mixed species flocks

● Breeding & nesting: Black-crested Titmouse: Four to eight brown spotted, white eggs are laid in a natural cavity, bird box, or woodpecker hole lined with bark, leaves, soft grass, moss, snakeskin, and bits of animal fur. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Black-crested Titmouse: Tufted Titmouse, Juniper Titmouse, and Oak Titmouse lack black crest. Bridled Titmouse has black mask and throat.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering short flights with shallow rapid wing beats., Flittering flight with several quick wing beats alternating with wings drawn to sides, then repeated.

Black-crested Titmouse Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Black-crested Titmouse: Native to southern Texas, Oklahoma and east-central Mexico. Common wherever trees grow, deciduous, heavy timber or urban shade trees. Perfers to nest in cavities in trees, telephone poles, fence posts and bird boxes.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.8 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America