What is a Spark Bird? Many veteran birders will tell you that they first became interested in birds after they encountered a bird that they found very interesting and wanted to know more about.

For example, the first time I ever went birding as an 11-year-old soon-to-be Boy Scout with my then-soon-to-be Scout Master, who was also the only birder in my hometown, I saw a bird that was completely new to me. After studying it with my binoculars and searching through the old original Peterson field guide my Scout Master had, I learned that the new bird was a Tufted Titmouse.

The whole experience was quite thrilling to me and sparked me into a lifetime interest that continues today. Yes, I know that Tufted Titmouse is now a very common feeder bird in Pennsylvania and most states east of the Mississippi and from northern Florida to the St Lawrence River. But back in 1943 bird feeding was unheard of and the only way to see such birds was to go into the field in search of them.

I asked my wife, Jewel, if she had a similar Spark Bird experience. She responded that as a recent college graduate living in her first home away from her parents she had a bird feeder (she is younger than I am, and bird feeding was a common activity by then) and just wanted to know what all those birds were. In order to find out she took a college course with a well-known ornithologist, along with field trips and visits to popular birding sites, and became so interested that she attended week-long Audubon camps and spent considerable time at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, where fall hawk migration is particularly exciting. She also attended many bird walks at Peace Valley Park near our Pennsylvania home.

Another close birding friend, (who my genealogist and birder brother, Bob, has discovered is also a distant cousin of ours,) has posted on our Pennsylvania birding club website that his Spark Bird, encountered when he was camping with his family in the Rocky Mountains, was a Western Tanager that he began chasing, and sparked him into birding to the extent that he has now completed his goal of seeing at least 100 species of birds in each of the lower 48 states. I now vicariously bird with him from home by following all his bird chases throughout the United States as he searches for and photographs the rare and unusual species that suddenly appear at remote spots almost anywhere.

The Tufted Titmouse loves sunflower seeds (photo 2). They typically come to a sunflower feeder, dig out one sunflower seed, and then carry it to a nearby branch where they hold the seed down with their claws while they crack open the hull to feed on the tasty seed. (photo 3) Tufted Titmice (note the plural of the species) also love unsalted shelled peanuts almost as much as sunflower seeds. (photo 4) Sometimes when they are actively engaged they lower the tuft so that they almost seem not to have one anymore. And even when they have just emerged from the bath and are soaking wet, they are still quite cute. (photo 5)

The Tufted Titmouse is in the family of birds known as the paridae which includes 55 species worldwide, including the chickadees and popular British species such as Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit. But there are only five Titmouse species in the United States, the other four of which are all in the western states.

Yes, the Tufted Titmouse is the only Titmouse species in the east and is the only species with a black spot just above the bill. Unfortunately, here in St Lucie County, we are just south of the range of the Tufted Titmouse. While I have never seen one in the county, there have been reports of occasional sightings in the area. The farthest south I have seen one is at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area on the way to Joe Overstreet Road.

I have sometimes wondered whether the tuft on the Tufted Titmouse would someday inspire a new either men’s or women’s hair style. And wouldn’t it be something if they could raise it or lower it at will like the Tufted Titmouse does. It could be used to signal all sorts of emotions. Raise it if interested, lower it if not. You get the idea. For humans they might need some sort of electrical pulse to make it work. On second thought that might not work. It would be a shame if someone got so excited they would electrocute themselves just when things were really going well. Still an idea that needs more work. Thank you, Tufted Titmouse, Spark Bird.

Learn more about “Spark Birds” on recent NPR feature on This American Life: www.thisamericanlife.org/754/spark-bird

For more information on Tufted Titmouse, see: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/overview.