Bird Watching: Getting To Know a Tufted Titmouse, 1 by DreamOfSpring

DreamOfSpring wrote:
For about 2 years now I've had an ongoing and sometimes adversarial interaction with a particular Tufted Titmouse who lives at the forest edge just behind my house. Elsewhere, 1st in Garden Foes and more recently in Wildlife Forum, I've been running a series of [at present] 2 threads regarding the incredible and often outragious behavior of this most unusual bird. Recently, someone suggested that I should place a link in this Forum in case some of you might be interested in the events and antics of this very unique bird.

First a warning, the unusual and sometimes outlandish behavior of this bird have resulted at time in much merriment, and at times people in the threads have made light hearted comments about harming the bird. But it was all meant entirely in jest. In fact, the bird is very much alive and well and still up to his hi-jinks. Also, if you are interested in Tufted Titmouse behavior, note that all joking aside, the events depicted in the linked thread are all completely accurate.

Here then is a link to a photo from the most recent thread in the story of Mr T the Tufted Titmouse: http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3368926
A link to the prior thread [the beginning of the story] can be found on the 1st post of the thread.

Below is a photo of my little frient Mr T the Tufted Titmouse and "me".

Edited to add link to [top of] thread: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/695711/#post_3368926
and to add synopsis of events:
This little bird started out by trying to disassemble my house, a sun up to sundown task in which he destroyed 4 window screens by cutting around the edges with his beak like a can opener and pecking endlessly on siding and windows. Then he started dive bombing me when he saw me in the garden. He would leap from a limb or other perch and fly at my head. Eventually, he started landing on my head and later on my shoulder and even my pants leg.

Lastly, I'd like to reiterate that no one has done anything to harm the bird. I only made the above warning because I know how important it is to those in this Forum that there be no talk of violence, etc against birds. Because of his often annoying behavior, people enjoyed dreaming up ways to get rid of him, jokingly, unrealistic things like flame throwers. I just wanted to warn anyone who would be bothered by such talk. But it is also clear from the threads that the bird enjoys sanctuary in my cottage garden with unlimited food, water, etc.

This message was edited Apr 11, 2007 5:44 AM