Monday, November 23, 2020

Oak Titmouse

I visited Covington Park and Great Morongo Preserve on Saturday and saw several oak titmouses, a bird I've never seen before, or even heard of before. They were making quite a racket, so I heard them well before I saw them. When I did see them, they were predominantly hanging upside down. 

In 1996, the species, plain titmouse, was separated into two separate species, the oak titmouse and the juniper titmouse. The oak titmouse is only found in California, with some minor extensions beyond the border. The juniper titmouse is found primarily in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado, as well as some small portions of California. 
An interesting photo of it leaving a branch in flight. 
It is small and gray with brown tinges and a distinctive tuft or crest. As I noted, they sometimes hang upside down to forage. They primarily eat insects and spiders, but will also take berries, acorns and some seeds. 

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