Tufted Titmouse

Although I do photograph them quite a bit, I often neglect the common birds when posting photos online. This is a Tufted Titmouse, as I'm sure many of you with bird feeders in your yards already know. They have quite the personality, and will band together with other titmice and other species to vigorously attack roosting owls and raptors. It's hard to take a walk through the eastern deciduous forest without hearing and/or seeing dozens of these birds. The tufted Titmouse is a cavity nester, and due to the fact that they are unable to make their own holes in trees, they nest almost exclusively in abandoned woodpecker cavities (although they will nest in boxes as well). Titmice often line their nests with hair, often plucked right off of living animals! This particular bird was trying to pull an acorn off a tree, hovering next to the branch while doing so. This is my first image of this species in flight (out of approximately 500 (!) images of this species).

Back Bay Fens
Boston, Massachusetts

October 15, 2012