You don’t have to be an expert to know what’s on the mind of a Tufted Titmouse. As one of the most vocal birds in Maine, they’re a great subject for studying bird behavior. Their most familiar noises might be their squeaky (dare I say ‘mousey’) contact calls and the raspy, mechanical scolding which you might hear following you down the trail. This winter, listen for those contact calls as the first sign of a mixed flock passing through the area. Tufted Titmice and their relatives, Black-capped Chickadees, each form small flocks that forage together in the winter and call constantly to keep track of one another. It sounds busy and chattery. Flocks often combine and are joined intermittently by Brown Creepers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. Titmice and chickadees forage at the ends of branches, so they often spot predators sooner than those species that creep along tree trunks and branches.
When a threat is identified, whether that’s you, a cat, or an Eastern Screech Owl, their enthusiastic “jway-jway” and “seet” calls are hard to interpret as anything but sounds of displeasure. One of their alarm calls sounds like a mechanical “chick-a-dee.” These calls summon nearby birds of any species to mob predators. Studies on both titmice and chickadees have revealed that the number and frequency of the “dee” notes in the call communicate information about the specific threat. A study published in 2022 demonstrated that even neotropical birds that have never seen a bird in the Paridae family (chickadees and tits) respond as intended to the “chick-a-dee” call. Eavesdrop on these charismatic Maine residents all year round in deciduous forests and backyards.
Backyard Bird of the Month is a feature by Maine Audubon created for the Maine Home Garden News, the newsletter of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard
