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Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Tufted Titmouse

We get such a kick out of seeing how many mealworms the Titmouse can stuff in its bill. Reminds us of seeing all those photos of Atlantic Puffins where they have stuffed an enormous number of fish in their bills.

This morning Don and I were talking about how the Titmouse stuffs as many mealworms in its bill as possible then flies off. Mr. and Mrs. bluebird, (see yesterday's post) just sit on the mealworm feeder and devour the mealworms themselves. That's because our Tufted Titmice are in a different stage of breeding than the bluebirds. The Titmice are feeding young, Mrs. Bluebird is sitting on eggs. She just needs to feed herself, for now.

You can tell a lot about your birds, just by tuning in and watching their behavior. The ones hurrying around with food in their bills are feeding young in the nest or fledglings who are out of the nest, but still dependent on the parents. Watch a bird with food in its bill and see where it goes, that will tell you where its nest is.

3 comments:

Carol said...

Do you raise your own mealworms? I did for a bit when I had several Lady Gouldians. I never thought to put any out for the wild birds. We probably have enough bugs here in FL..but it would be fun to watch.
The Titmice are coming to the feeder for sunflower seeds.

www.wildlifearoundus.com

Anonymous said...

are you feeding live mealworms or dehydrated mealworms?

the dehydrated ones don't seem to be getting much attention and we have tons of worm eating birds, from blue birds to wrens.

I haven't ever seen live mealworms for sale anywhere.

Dawn Fine said...

I have never tried mealworms but will someday..

A Few of us birdie/nature bloggers are getting together June 13 @Plum Island, Ma. for a bird walk.
You are welcome to join us.
Check out this link ...that link that explains a bit more about the bloggers that will be meeting for the first time.

http://dawnandjeffsblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/birders-who-blog-tweet-and-chirp-june.html