Titmouse? Young bird? (1 Viewer)

[mlwilson]

We have a new bird in our backyard in Austin, Texas. The bird is coming to a feeder with safflower chips and also a basket with whole peanuts. Looks like a titmouse with a small greyish tuft on the head, otherwise all grey with a black circle around the eye. Very nervous, moving about, clinging to the basket. 3 1/2 to 4 inches. Wings and back, grey. Abd lighter grey. No rufus. Generally kind of drab except the small tuft. My books show the Tufted Titmouse in our area, but this bird lacks the rufus and black crest. The other titmouse's are not in this area. I am new to birding, not sure what I am seeing. Young bird? Young cardinal? Do they have red? In the books, he looks like a pinion titmouse but they are not in Austin. Thanks for any help, this is all new but exciting.

 

[Katy Penland]

Hi, MLWilson! A warm welcome to you from all of us on staff here at BirdForum!

This time of year, you could easily have a young Tufted Titmouse, where the rufousy flanks wouldn't be as prominent as they will be on an older bird. Trying to think of what other mostly gray, crested species you'd have in Texas, but I think your ID was right.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there ml and a warm welcome to you.
Not sure what you have there but one of our resident geniuses should be along shortly.

Glad you found us and hope you enjoy your time here :t:

 

[Dave B Smith]

My books show the Tufted Titmouse in our area, but this bird lacks the rufus and black crest. The other titmouse's are not in this area. I am new to birding, not sure what I am seeing.

ml,
Not sure what book you are using but there could easily be some confusion because of your area. In Austin, you can normally have both the "Tufted Titmouse" and the "Black-crested Titmouse". The latter used to be considered a Tufted Titmouse and appears in some books as that but has since been split as a separate species. So a tufted Titmouse will show a gray, not black, crest. As to the rufus or orange flanks, it is quite possible that this would not be evident on some birds.

Hope this helps,

 

[mlwilson]

Thanks for your replies! My wife and I have seen the bird again, and believe it is a young Tufted Titmouse. Unfortunately our camera is off on vavaction with our son, our I would post a picture.