Oak Titmouse

The latin name inornatus ("unadorned") is perhaps fitting for this plain grey bird, but that's not to say Oak Titmouse has no distinguishing features--note its crest and large, mouse-like eye. One of Sonoma County's more common woodland birds, Oak Titmouse is present virtually anywhere there is oak and other broadleaf forest, but the bird is a common feeder visitor (particularly in the winter) and is often found in suburban settings and urban parks as well. Generally not found in conifer forest or in fog-bound coastal areas.

Our only small, grey, crested bird. Unlikely to be confused with anything else, except perhaps Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), which is smaller, often has a warmer color on the head and flanks, has a proportionately long tail, and a very small eye. Bushtit tends to fly in small flocks (although usually moves in pairs during the breeding season), while Oak Titmouse generally does not form flocks. Oak Titmouse is most commonly (although not always) seen alone or in pairs. Note that the bird in the photo above is wet in the rain, with its crest pressed down.

Oak Titmouse has a very wide vocal range, but most commonly says tsick-a-dee or tsick-a-dee-dee, sounding more like a chickadee than a chickadee. Also says chee-wit, chee-wit, chee-wit, sounding to me like one of those record player-manipulating DJs moving an LP rapidly back and forth under the needle. Sometimes says something like wheatie, wheatie, wheatie. The voice of Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) is higher, thinner, and more often has the extra syllable (sick-a-dee-dee) or sometimes two (sick-a-dee-dee-dee), but, personally, I like to see the bird making these sounds, as the two often sound so similar.

Older books will refer to Oak Titmouse as "Plain Titmouse" and assign it to the genus Parus, as Parus inornatus. Oak Titmouse and Juniper Titmouse (today Baeolophus ridgwayi) were formerly considered a single species, Plain Titmouse. The American Ornithological Union split the birds around 1997. Juniper Titmouse occurs east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It looks very, very similar, but is slightly larger and paler than Oak Titmouse, prefers juniper and piñyon pine-juniper forest (rather than oak and mixed forest), has a slightly different call, and is said to be genetically distinguishable. The ranges overlap in the extreme northeast of the Oak Titmouse's range, around the border between Siskiyou and Modoc counties, in the extreme north of California. Confusingly, some sources list Juniper Titmouse as Baeolophus griseus.