Oak Titmouse

Oak Titmouse

Baeolophus inornatus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at San Francisco

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

29,150 Verified sightings at San Francisco
1,213 In all 4 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Oak Titmouse

The oak titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The American Ornithologists' Union split the plain titmouse into the oak titmouse and the juniper titmouse in 1996, due to distinct differences in song, preferred habitat, and genetic makeup.

The oak titmouse is a small, brown-tinged gray bird with a small tuft or crest. The face is plain, and the undersides are a lighter gray. Sexes are similar, as there is very little to no sexual dimorphism. This species lives year-round on the Pacific slope, resident from southern Oregon south through California west of the Sierra Nevada to Baja California, but its range surrounds the central San Joaquin Valley. It prefers open woodlands of warm, dry oak and oak-pine at low to mid-elevations but can also be found in forests as long as adequate oak trees are present. With these habitats, the oak titmouse lives typically in Quercus agrifolia (coast live oak) and Quercus lobata (valley oak); which provides sufficient cavities, dense foliage, and twig piles that those oaks provide, oak titmouse utilizes such sources for nesting.

However, the rural residential sprawl and vineyard... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:39

United States · 2026

© Ed Pandolfino · XC1089607 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:19

United States · 2022

© Paul Marvin · XC710735 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:38

United States · 1995

© Richard E. Webster · XC350946 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
~40%
2 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
~70%
2 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
3 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 San Diego 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Oak Titmouse in San Francisco?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Oak Titmouse sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 29,150 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 375 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Oak Titmouse in San Francisco?

February–June and September

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Oak Titmouse in San Francisco on a given day, against about 20% in July–August and October–January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see an Oak Titmouse?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Oak Titmouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is San Francisco the best place to see an Oak Titmouse?

2nd of 4

Of the 4 cities where we can rate Oak Titmouse sightings, San Francisco ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Sacramento (United States, about 70%).

Where does the Oak Titmouse sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Oak Titmouse is recorded against all the birds logged in San Francisco (29,150 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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