The Tufted Titmouse That Wouldn’t Quit – Part 3

 

We Have Eggs!

In my last post, I told how my tufted titmouse mother started, stopped and then started a nest again. How she returned with a vengeance after I had cleaned out her first aborted attempt at a nest. I only wish I could have recorded her stuffing those gigantic clumps of nesting material in there. It was something to behold and simply hilarious.

I also showed some shots of the completed nest before the eggs were laid in it. Now, here’s a couple after the eggs have been laid in it.

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Whew! Seven Eggs!

I got the above pics at one time and never went back until well after all of them had hatched. I mentioned in my first post that a tufted titmouse mother will abandon eggs if she feels threatened.

Plus, I saw firsthand what is meant by “titmouse hissing“.  The first time I checked on her progress I knocked on the box to make sure she wasn’t still in there. At least, that’s what I thought. 

As soon as I opened the side door on the box she became incredibly agitated. She immediately started striking at the side of the nest in my direction. No matter how I encouraged her, she just kept striking! Afraid she was going to do harm to herself or her eggs, I closed the door quickly. This behavior came as a complete surprise to me! My interactions with the tufted titmice in my back yard had shown them to be a highly inquisitive but extremely social species. I was completely blown away by this display. That’s why birding, like life, is a constant learning experience.

(Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, I’m afraid my error may have cost her a chick or two. More on that later.)

I was pleased to see she had laid seven eggs which is a very nice sized clutch for tufted titmice!

And Soon..Babies!

After a little less than two weeks, the little tufted titmouse eggs started hatching. You’ll notice in the photos here that I now was only able to see five nestlings. It was very challenging getting these shots and it’s quite possible that all of them just weren’t cooperating when I tried to take these shots-LOL! 

Have a look at these shots of the nestlings.

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Next up: We’ve Got Some Mouths To Feed!

In part 4, I’ll talk about when the feeding frenzy started and show you some pics and a YouTube videos I made of the tufted titmouse nestlings and their parents feeding them. I got some great videos to show you! Stick around, ok?

As always, if you enjoyed this post, please share it on your favorite social media platform using the buttons below. Also, leave me a comment and let me know if you have any experience with tufted titmice nesting in your back yard. Or, just let me know what you’d like to see covered in future posts on the blog.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Jeff