The oak titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The American Ornithologists' Union split the plain titmouse into the oak titmouse and the juniper titmouse in 1996, due to distinct differences in song, preferred habitat, and genetic makeup.[2]
The oak titmouse is a small, brown-tinged gray bird with small tuft or crest. The face is plain, and the undersides are a lighter gray. Sexes are similar, as there is very little to no sexual dimorphism.
This species lives year-round on the Pacific slope, resident from southern Oregon south through California west of the Sierra Nevada to Baja California, but its range surrounds the central San Joaquin Valley. It prefers open woodlands of warm, dry oak and oak-pine at low to mid-elevations but can also be found in forests as long as adequate oak trees are present.
The oak titmouse will sleep in cavities, dense foliage or birdhouses. When roosting in foliage, the titmouse chooses a twig surrounded by dense foliage or an accumulation of dead pine needles, simulating a roost in a cavity. It forms pairs or small groups, but does not form large flocks. It may join mixed-species flocks after breeding season for foraging. Pairs stay together after the breeding season.
Oak titmice eat insects and spiders, and are sometimes seen catching insects in mid air. They will also take berries, acorns, and some seeds. This species forages on foliage, twigs, branches, trunks, and occasionally on ground, sometimes hanging upside down to forage, and hammering seeds against branches to open them. Oak titmice are attracted to feeders with suet, peanut butter and sunflower seeds.
The song of the oak titmouse is a series of repeated phrases of two or three notes with the last note of lower pitch; usually three to seven phrases are grouped together. The call is a scratchy tsicka-dee-dee.
The oak titmouse builds its nest in a woodpecker hole, a natural cavity, or a nest box, using grass, moss, mud, hair, feathers, and fur. It breeds from March into July, with peak activity in April and May, laying 3–9 eggs, usually 6–8. The female is the primary incubator, with incubation taking 14–16 days. Young are altricial and are tended by both parents in nest for 16–21 days. Parents continue to tend to young for another three to four weeks after they leave the nest.
The oak titmouse and juniper titmouse appear almost identical, but differ in voice as well as range. The oak titmouse has a browner back than the juniper titmouse. The oak titmouse gives a repeated series of three to seven syllables, each comprising one low and one high note, while the juniper titmouse song consists of a series of rapid syllables on the same note. Ranges overlap only in a small area in California. The tufted titmouse, which does not overlap in range, has a whiter belly, rusty flanks, and black on the forehead.
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Baeolophus inornatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22711978A111066495. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22711978A111066495.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Banks, Richard C.; Fitzpatrick, John W.; Howell, Thomas R.; Johnson, Ned K.; Monroe, Burt L.; Ouellet, Henri; Remsen, J. V.; Storer, Robert W. (July 1997). "Forty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk. 114 (3): 542–552. doi:10.2307/4089270. JSTOR 4089270.
Further reading
- Alsop, Fred J. III (2001). Smithsonian Birds of North America, Western Region. New York City: DK Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-7894-7157-4.
- Sibley, David Allen (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Knopf. p. 483. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
External links
- Oak titmouse Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Oak titmouse at Audubon.org
- Oak titmouse photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- "Oak titmouse media". Internet Bird Collection.
- BirdLife species factsheet for Baeolophus inornatus
- "Baeolophus inornatus". Avibase.
- Interactive range map of Baeolophus inornatus at IUCN Red List maps
- Audio recordings of Oak titmouse on Xeno-canto.
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- BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English Oak titmouse in Palo Alto Wikimedia username: Rhododendrites URL: https://commons...(2,186 × 2,508 (2.84 MB)) - 08:53, 23 May 2024
- BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English Oak titmouse in Palo Alto Wikimedia username: Rhododendrites URL: https://commons...(2,861 × 2,127 (4.31 MB)) - 08:53, 23 May 2024
- BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue English Oak titmouse author name string: Anant.wildlife Wikimedia username: Anant.wildlife...(5,184 × 3,456 (5.97 MB)) - 01:54, 2 August 2023
- on: Baeolophus inornatus Vernacular names [edit wikidata 'Oak Titmouse'] English: Oak Titmouse català: mallerenga emplomallada dels roures čeština: sýkora...802 bytes (173 words) - 17:35, 27 October 2015
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (51963571064).jpg Alisal Road Date 26 March 2022, 11:33 Source Oak Titmouse Author Channel City Camera Club from Santa Barbara...(1,599 × 2,000 (1.42 MB)) - 12:45, 5 July 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (53400650458).jpg Photo: Don Green San Roque Date 15 December 2023, 15:40 Source Oak Titmouse Author Channel City Camera Club from...(2,000 × 2,001 (743 KB)) - 22:34, 8 March 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (53110089035).jpg Photo: Don Green San Roque Date 11 August 2023, 12:11 Source Oak Titmouse Author Channel City Camera Club from...(2,500 × 1,405 (530 KB)) - 19:45, 9 September 2023
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (52444325623).jpg Lake Los Carneros Date 20 October 2022, 11:30 Source Oak Titmouse Author Channel City Camera Club from Santa...(5,823 × 4,658 (1.15 MB)) - 11:55, 3 October 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (53247514795).jpg Photo: Don Green San Roque Date 9 October 2023, 15:21 Source Oak Titmouse Author Channel City Camera Club from...(1,875 × 2,500 (857 KB)) - 13:52, 29 August 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse at nest (52835567102).jpg Farren Road Date 19 April 2023, 10:15 Source Oak Titmouse at nest Author Channel City Camera Club from...(2,859 × 3,574 (1.42 MB)) - 23:46, 27 August 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (19208880169).jpg El Sobrante, California Date 3 July 2015, 18:46 Source Oak Titmouse Author Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante,...(2,729 × 1,819 (2.19 MB)) - 21:07, 10 July 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (19220978485).jpg El Sobrante, California Date 27 June 2015, 19:03 Source Oak Titmouse Author Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante...(1,985 × 1,323 (1.44 MB)) - 21:17, 5 July 2024
- DescriptionOak titmouse (48081243841).jpg Oak titmouse Date Taken on 7 June 2019, 16:34 Source Oak titmouse Author Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN,...(2,875 × 1,916 (563 KB)) - 20:49, 27 February 2022
- DescriptionOak titmouse (48081274668).jpg Oak titmouse Date Taken on 7 June 2019, 16:33 Source Oak titmouse Author Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN,...(3,456 × 2,304 (824 KB)) - 20:50, 27 February 2022
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (27018320803).jpg Oak Titmouse Date 12 June 2016, 08:57 Source Oak Titmouse Author Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US...(3,072 × 2,306 (787 KB)) - 11:20, 19 November 2021
- DescriptionOak titmouse (48081341627).jpg Oak titmouse Date Taken on 7 June 2019, 16:41 Source Oak titmouse Author Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN,...(4,257 × 2,838 (967 KB)) - 06:37, 22 May 2024
- DescriptionOak titmouse (25614088914).jpg Oak titmouse Date Taken on 23 March 2016, 19:04 Source Oak titmouse Author Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN...(3,585 × 2,390 (813 KB)) - 14:13, 14 July 2024
- DescriptionOak titmouse (48111084776).jpg Oak titmouse Date Taken on 10 June 2019, 13:05 Source Oak titmouse Author Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN...(3,740 × 2,494 (843 KB)) - 19:29, 20 June 2024
- DescriptionOak Titmouse (27017350864).jpg Oak Titmouse Date 12 June 2016, 08:57 Source Oak Titmouse Author Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US...(1,972 × 2,630 (754 KB)) - 11:55, 30 August 2024
- DescriptionOak titmouse (25616208903).jpg Oak titmouse Date Taken on 23 March 2016, 19:03 Source Oak titmouse Author Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN...(3,585 × 2,390 (766 KB)) - 13:49, 25 June 2024
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