Black-crested Titmouse

This page is for the Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus). My first photographic evidence of the Black-crested Titmouse was on September 5, 2021 at the bird blind in Mineral Wells State Park, Mineral Wells, TX. Originally I identified it as a Tufted Titmouse, not knowing about the Black-crested Titmouse. When I was reviewing my birds in preparation for this page, I noticed it was a bit different. With some research, I found that only the Black-crested Titmouse is found at Mineral Wells State Park, not the Tufted Titmouse. Combined with the photographic evidence, I changed the identification. Interestingly, the opposite was true for Cleburne State Park, and only the Tufted-Titmouse is on their Birds of Cleburne State Park and Vicinity field checklist. When we were visiting this park, I was able to take a picture of the Black-crested Titmouse on the Red Trail. I let the park know that a species new to their park was observed and provided them the photographic evidence. They had a nice post about it on their Facebook page. As an update, we attended a lecture recently where we learned that this area in north central Texas is where the Tufted Titmouse and Black-crested Titmouse territories overlap and that most of the Black-crested are actually hybrids with the tufted. If you look through the pictures on this page, most are actually hybrids. I keep them here as they have the characteristic rust-colored patch just above the bill of the Black-crested Titmouse, but unless the crest is jet black, it is a hybrid. The best photograph I have taken of the Black-crested Titmouse to date (above) is the December 28, 2021 photograph at Cleburne State Park, Cleburne, TX.

The following photograph is the best representative image from a different date and location than my species representative example.