Black-crested Titmouse

About the Black-crested Titmouse

A perky little gray songbird with a jaunty pointed crest, the Black-crested Titmouse is Central and South Texas's answer to the more widespread Tufted Titmouse. The black crest and pale forehead set it apart, and its big dark eyes give it an alert, inquisitive look.

Active and vocal, it moves through oak and mesquite woodlands in small parties, often mixed with chickadees and warblers, gleaning insects from twigs and bark and cracking seeds held under its feet. It whistles a clear, repeated peter-peter and scolds intruders with a raspy chatter. Like other titmice, it readily visits feeders and takes sunflower seeds one at a time.

In Texas this is largely a signature bird - its range is centered on the state, so it is a familiar backyard resident across the Hill Country, the Edwards Plateau, and South Texas, present year-round.

A note from behind the lens: their boldness at feeders and constant activity make them easy to find but hard to freeze - prefocus on a favorite perch near a seed source and catch them in the split second before they grab and go.