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Tufted titmouse

Baeolophus bicolor

Photo by Maria dB
Published on Project Noah
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36.0333, -79.0427

Field Notes

Description:

This bird, which usually eats nuts, seeds and insects in the summertime, had caught what I was told was a worm snake (Carphophis amoenus), although someone else suggested it could be some species of brown or earth snake. At one point, the bird flew further away from me and unfortunately dropped the snake in flight near the creek. I remained watching and about five minutes later, the bird had caught the snake again and flew off with it.

Habitat:

The Brumley Nature Preserve North is an area with meadows, woods, a creek and ponds. This bird caught the snake near the creek.

Notes:

This was a very surprising spotting as I had never heard of titmice eating snakes. They come to my feeders often for nuts and seeds. The bird was very determined to hang on to its catch.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (17)

Thank you, triggsturner - a pleasure sharing the honors with you. Hope we both continue to observe interesting bird behaviors!
Great spotting Maria and congratulations on your first place. A very unusual spotting. Brilliant!
Thank you, SukanyaDatta and Sergio! Hope you and all other Project Noah members are staying well and healthy!
CONGRATULATIONS, really stunned by this shot.
Oh wow - I didn't know that had happened - thanks for your congratulations and to the team that voted on entries. There is apparently a question about whether this is a worm snake or another species of snake so I'll change the description. But the fact remains that it was really unusual to see this species of bird with a snake.
Congratulations, Maria for your well deserved First Place!
Congratulations Maria dB, your spotting tied for First Place in our 2019 Best Wildlife Photo Competition - Birds category! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/a.10163355292140603/10163355292265603 Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/1246898947387527169
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Thank you for your nice comments, Brian, Mark, Sukanya, Sergio, Daniele and Josh! I have to admit that this was one of my favorite spottings last year. :)
What a savage little titmouse! Great capture!
Great series of images Maria! Perfect for the 2019 Best Wildlife Photo special mission.
So the early bird caught the wo...I mean snake.Again! SUPER shots. ...
Wow Maria!! Amazing series and spotting!

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