Oak Titmouse

Oak Titmouse

Baeolophus inornatus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Joshua Tree National Park

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

249 Verified sightings at Joshua Tree National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,213 In all 4 parks
July 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 Joshua Tree National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Oak Titmouse sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 249 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 40th most-seen of the 141 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Oak Titmouse in Joshua Tree National Park?

February and July

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Oak Titmouse in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and August, 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 Joshua Tree National Park the best place to see an Oak Titmouse?

2nd of 4

Of the 4 parks where we can rate Oak Titmouse sightings, Joshua Tree National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 40%).

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 Joshua Tree National Park (249 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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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