Tufted titmouse

I've decided that I'll try to make one post a week about a different bird, which might stimulate me to get some decent photos of them (and I hope will be interesting, too).  So today we have the tufted titmouse.

 

These are friendly little birds that like our bird feeder but also visit just to pick up scraps the squirrels leave behind (though they are quite capable of taking off with an entire peanut and holding it between their feet while they shell and devour it).  Oddly, I didn't see them until this winter, which means that for two summers and a winter they were hiding in the trees out of sight.


Looking at my field guide I see that they can be attracted by making a squeaking or pish sound (that pish could be anything...bird enthusiasts seem to have a language for bird calls that is about as penetrable to the outsider as wine language).  I haven't had much luck calling birds here, most of which seem very shy.  If I can master the pish I'll be a regular Francis of Assisi.

There is something about the tufted titmouse that makes it look happy, and they act that way too.  They're quite clever as well - it says here that they cache seeds and remember where they put them.  That puts them a step above the squirrels, who cache nuts but forget where.

Most of all, though, I'm impressed that their name has survived American mores.  In a country where "cockroach" and "tit-bit" are seemingly too racy for everyday use you'd think "titmouse" would be right out.