VIDEO: Bluebirds Attack Oak Titmice in Nestbox Challenge

I’ve fallen for an industrious pair of Oak Titmice tending a nest in our back yard. From my second story window, I happened to witness a male and female Western Bluebird challenge the Titmice, in what appeared to be an attempted nestbox takeover. 

The 6.5 minute video below captures portions of the 53 minute bluebird’s investigation and attack on March 12, 2021. 

Male Titmouse singing the gender-specific “Peter, Peter, Peter!”

VIDEO by Beth Ann Mathews: Bluebirds attack Oak Titmouse in conflict over a nestbox. NESTFLIX feature #2/2.

My emotions around the Titmice are likely tied up with my childhood adoration of the Lassie TV Series.  I often hid behind the couch when Lassie or Timmy got in trouble. I felt those same emotions watching the Oak Titmice pair almost lose their hard-earned nest to the bigger, flashier bluebirds. 

I suspect this altercation is a reflection of a shortage of nesting sites for Western Bluebirds and Oak Titmice in Sonoma County. If you’re interested in putting up nest boxes, there’s great advice and box plans at the N. American Bluebird Society and Cornell’s Oak Titmouse Nestbox Watch.

I hope you enjoy the video. Leave a comment below if you’ve witnessed takeover attempts like these, or have other bird observations, questions, or insights to share.  

The video music is a tune from Aurora Celtic, a wonderful band who play guitar, fiddle, Irish flute, whistle, mandolin and tenor banjo. Band members Alice Fleischman (my lovely cousin), Michael Broderick, Chris Bern and Wes Ridenour are multi-instrumentalists who have been featured on NPR’s Thistle & Shamrock program.

In honor of Earth Day, I share this Native American Proverb “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

This Oak Titmouse had been gleaning insects off the flowering plum tree, then took fight for the nest box. Catching him mid air was a luck shot. I think of it as my “Welcome Spring!” photo.

I’ll post another video soon, hopefully of Mr and Mrs Oak Titmouse successfully fledging chicks.

To learn more about the Oak Titmouse, Western Bluebirds, and other birds in your neighborhood, The Cornell Lab’s All About Birds and Audubon Guide to North American Birds websites are great resources.

Feel free to share this newsletter. Thanks for stopping by!

—Beth

Beth Ann Mathews