Front:
AllanBrooks.
TUFTED TITMOUSE
Published by the National Association of Audubon Societies
Back:
No. 47 Tufted Titmouse
Length 6 inches
The Tufted Titmouse is sometimes called
“Tom-tit” and “Peter Bird.” The last name is
derived from its most common note, peter peter
or peto peto, which it repeats continuously as it
flits from tree to tree through the woods. It also
has other calls not unlike the notes of its relative,
the Chickadee. The Tufted Titmouse is just as
much of an acrobat as the above-named bird, but
perhaps its performances do not attract so much
attention. It is not quite so friendly and confiding
as its black-capped cousin, yet is not at all a shy
bird and may be readily approached. Many of us
associate the Titmouse with the crisp autumn days
when nuts are falling, at which time it goes troop-
ing through the woods with Jays and Nuthatches
and other feathered companions. The Titmouse is
of great value as a destroyer of insect life, and
spends its time searching for these pests in all
manner of places. As a general rule, it is more a
frequenter of woodlands than is the Chickadee.
The nest is usually in the deserted holes of
Woodpeckers or in natural hollows of stumps or
dead trees. It is made of moss, leaves, strips of
bark, feathers, etc. The eggs are five to eight,
creamy white and spotted with reddish-brown.
Classification: Order Passeres. Family Parida.
Scientific name: Baeolophus bicolor.
Range: Eastern United States from Nebraska, Illinois
and New Jersey, south to Florida and Texas.
No. 47 from set of 50 Winter Birds of the Northeastern United
States. Published by the National Association of Audubon So-
cieties, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Price per set, in a box,
$1.00 post paid.
