# Strange bird behavior - titmouse mating display? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-bird-behavior-titmouse-mating-display/717488 "2015-04-12T15:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-bird-behavior-titmouse-mating-display/717488/1 "2015-04-12T15:10:51Z")
So we have the world’s greatest bird feeder, with a birdy Zagat rating of 5.0, right outside our window where we can watch the traffic over coffee. Mrs. B. reported this to me, and then I saw it this morning: a titmouse, hovering like a hummingbird, then lighting on one of the perches and still fanning its wings hard, all the while with its beak wide open. The Mrs said he was emitting a high pitched warble, but amid our usual debate about who has better hearing I heard nothing. (I have some very high-frequency hearing loss, at about 17k and up). Frankly, it looks odd and disturbing, like some kind of illness reaction. Some searching hasn’t turned up a definitive answer. Is this behavior normal, and what does it signify if not mental or other illness on the part of this titmouse? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-bird-behavior-titmouse-mating-display/717488/2 "2015-04-13T01:28:54Z")
That almost sounds like a young one begging for food, we have no titmouse where I live so I can’t really comment on that.