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Tufted Titmouse (Parus bicolor)

© Charles H. Warren

Length: 5.5-6 in.
Habitat: deciduous forests, cypress swamps, pine woods, wooded bottomlands, orchards, suburbs.

Long regarded as a southern species, the Tufted Titmouse has been spreading northward in recent years. Now these tame, confiding birds are familiar visitors at feeders from Michigan to New England. Their ringing song varies; usually it is a rapid two-note whistle—pe-ter, pe-ter. Titmice are relatives of chickadees, and this species has a number chickadeelike calls. In the West, the Plain Titmouse (Parus inornatus), which lacks the buffy flanks of the Tufted, actually does call tsick-a-dee-dee.