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Crested Titmouse

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Lophophanes cristatus Crested Tit

The Crested Tit is as arobatic as its cousins are.

This is perhaps the most attractive of all tits. It is however very hard to observe. In winter it appears rarely and certainly irregularly. But certain winters, not necessarily extremely cold ones, it seems te be a daily guest on my feeding table for a certain amount of time. These pictures, of one sitting in the grass, are rare in itself, because the birds almost never sit down on the ground.

Lophophanes cristatus Parus cristatus

Young Crested Tit in our garden.

This bird belongs to the family of Titmice or Chickadees (Paridae). It is common in our garden and can be seen in Holland all year round. The bird is 5" and weighs 11 grams. It lives in woodlands mostly. It eats insects, spiders and seeds. The sexes do not differ from one another. It is a bird that builds a nest in holes (mainly in trees), where it lays five to eight eggs. Breeding is quite normal: some 14 days. The young stay in their hole for some three weeks.

Name of this bird in various other languages
Dutch German French Polish Scientific
Kuifmees Haubenmeise Mesange huppé Czubatka Lophophanes cristatus*


* Used to be called Parus cristatus, but now placed in the Lophophanes-genus, together with the Grey Crested Tit from China.

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This page has last been modified on Saturday, January 20, 2007.
Photographs and text © www.gardensafari.net (Hania Berdys and Hans Arentsen).
Sounds © CLM & Vogelbescherming Nederland, used here by kind permission.