[mou] Tufted Titmouse, present and past?

[Jesse Ellis]

While I won't argue whether these to sighting mean global warming is 
or isn't happening, I'd be curious to hear from those with access to 
long-term records about the former status of each of these species 
(Tufted Titmouse and Carolina Wren) in southern Minnesota.  I recall 
my father (from Mankato) talking about HIS father (my grandfather) 
talking about Tufted Titmice at their feeders way back when.  While I 
can't vouch for my grandfather's bird ID, I do know he spent a fair 
amount of time out of doors, and I'd argue that Titmice are a bit 
difficult to MIS-ID if you have them at a feeder.  I have no idea if 
this was a constant occurrence or basically just a few sightings.  My 
understanding of them in Ithaca, NY, is that while Titmice are a bit 
hardier, both expand and contract ranges locally with the severity of 
the winter, implying that Ithaca is right on the edge of their ranges.

Anyone here with access to records care to shed light on these?

Bill, it will be interesting to see if your pair of Wrens survive the winter...

Jesse Ellis
Seattle WA (by way of Saint Paul and Ithaca, NY)

At 1:03 PM -0600 11/27/06, Bill Bruins wrote:
>About 12:15 today, a Tufted Titmouse twice visited our feeder which 
>is just out-side the kitchen window.
>
>The last we saw the Carolina Wrens was just after 8 AM Friday. One 
>started singing and I was able to whistle them both in to the burr 
>oak.
>
>I taking these sightings to mean global warming has reached NE Rochester.
>
>Bill
>
>
>O. William Bruins
>1538 11th Avenue NE
>Rochester, MN 55906-4213
>wbruins@earthlink.net
>507-281-1607 - home
>507-261-6837 - cell (not always turned on)
>
>
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-- 
Jesse Ellis, Ph. D. candidate
Neurobiology and Behavior
jme29@cornell.edu
111 Mudd Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, 14853