WatchList Species Account for Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus)

Qualifies for the list as a Rare Yellow List Species

Photo: © Scott Streit

Until recently, taxonomists considered this species and the Juniper Titmouse to be conspecifics under the name Plain Titmouse. The Oak Titmouse is found principally in oak or oak-pine woodlands of the Pacific slope of California, barely getting into Oregon and Baja California at the opposite ends of its range. One of the most common and characteristic birds of the oak woodlands in California, this bird depends on a habitat which has suffered up to a 50% decline in the last century.Factors responsible are the explosive growth of the human population, and clearing for agriculture and rangeland; recently a fungal disease, Sudden Oak Death, has killed thousands of oaks, though over the short term this may benefit the bird, since it needs cavities in dead trees for nesting. Since over 80% of oak woodlands in California are privately owned, education and cooperation between landowners and resource managers is a necessary part of the bird’s conservation.