Guide to North American Birds
Conservation status Locally common in parts of its range, with no obvious trends in population.
Family Chickadees and Titmice
Habitat Pinyon-juniper woodland; locally river woods, shade trees. Found mainly in open woods of pinyon pine and juniper, as well as in oak or pine-oak woods.
Plain and drab but full of personality, the Juniper Titmouse enlivens pinyon-juniper woods of the interior of the west. Until recently, this and the very similar Oak Titmouse were considered one species, under the name of Plain Titmouse.

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Feeding Behavior

Forages by hopping about in branches and larger twigs of trees, sometimes hanging upside down, searching for insects among the foliage and on the bark. Opens nuts and acorns by holding them with feet and pounding with bill. Comes to bird feeders for seeds or suet.


Eggs

Usually 5-6, sometimes 4-7. White, sometimes lightly dotted with reddish brown. Incubation is probably by female only, 14-16 days. Young: Both parents bring food to nestlings. Young leave nest about 16-21 days after hatching.


Young

Both parents bring food to nestlings. Young leave nest about 16-21 days after hatching.

Diet

Insects, nuts, seeds. Feeds mainly on insects, including many caterpillars, beetles, true bugs, and many others, as well as some spiders. Also eats pinyon nuts, acorns, weed seeds, and sometimes berries or small fruits. B


Nesting

At least in some areas, pairs or family groups may defend territories all year. Nest site (possibly selected by female) is usually in hole in tree, sometimes hole in stump, fence post, or pole. May be natural cavity or old woodpecker hole. In rotten wood, both members of pair may work to enlarge small cavities for their use. Also will use nest boxes, or crevices in old, twisted trunks of juniper or pine. Nest has foundation of grass, weeds, moss, bark fibers, and lining of soft material such as feathers or animal hair.

Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

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Migration

Permanent resident, seldom wandering very far from the areas where it nests.

  • All Seasons - Common
  • All Seasons - Uncommon
  • Breeding - Common
  • Breeding - Uncommon
  • Winter - Common
  • Winter - Uncommon
  • Migration - Common
  • Migration - Uncommon

See a fully interactive migration map for over 450 bird species on the Bird Migration Explorer.

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Songs and Calls

Harsh see-dee-dee.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
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How Climate Change Will Reshape the Range of the Juniper Titmouse

Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.

Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.

Climate Threats Near You
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Climate threats facing the Juniper Titmouse

Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.