Feeding razzing in our garden has a retentive history which reaches far back to the former 2oth hundred , when in the 1920 ’s my dad , his buddy and my grandparents fed birds during the wintertime calendar month . You could even that that due to our gardens singular positioning , just south of a populated city , yet attach to a timberland , that it could be deliberate a birding hot spot , not unlike central park in NYC ( but small ! ) . I am discovering a renewed fixation this winter with birdwatching and hiss eating . Today , Jow an I just completed a feeding station consisting of a 50 foot wire with 6 feeders , two thistle , one grasshopper eater and a tabular array top feeder . Along with two suet feeders , I think it ’s good to say that I ’ve gone off the cryptic remainder once again . Then again , I suppose it is already in me genes .
OK … so Titmice . What ’s the peck with that name ? As a child , my Brother and I would all snigger when we would learn my pappa say that he need to go feed the titmice , but really ? Where did this name come from ? And with that said , should they be called tit or titmouse ?
The response is in reality quite interesting … .
Thanks to an old book which I found in our dwelling program library , I found part of the solution to this enquiry . The record book ” 100 Birds and How They get Their Names ” inform me that the name Titmouse has nothing to do with mouse , or for that issue , ( disconsolate guys ) – ta ta ’s . So arise up and grab your Sardina pilchardus , ’cause the name Titmouse come from the Icelandic wordtitr , which mean “ small ’ , and the Anglo - Saxon wordmase , which have in mind something closelipped to “ cute small raspberry ” . As speech evolved , the book states that the discussion finally became titmouse .
But wait , Wiktionaryhas a slightly different explanation . consort to Wiktionary , the name Titmouse in reality comes from Middle English Titmose , ( remember , most genus of Titmice are European , and thus , Old World ) . Not that this is much dissimilar than my books ’ definition , as it is still a compound countersign composed oftit ( again , “ small Bronx cheer ” but diametrical of the Icelandic definition ) and the Old Englishmāse ( “ titmouse”),from Proto - Germanicmaison , ormaisaz(“tiny , puny ” ) still totally unrelated to mouse .
I know , I am getting far too Frasierish here , so to sum , I imagine that whatever the root name of Titmouse is , it was first notice in Europe where other passerine birds are known as ‘ tits ’ live , and then , once explorers go far in the New World , they used the same name for our own Tufted Titmouse .
I have seen the word Titmice used everywhere from bird books to Wikipedia , but it seems it is unlawful , but that said , the plural form for sign , is right hice , and even the crabbed Scrabble player would ever use that .
at last , a 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica confuses us even more , so briefly : Hellenic – TcTis which means small-scale tweedle birdIceandic – TitingurScottish – Titling
Yeah , I favor Titling , but I doubt I could ever convert anyone else other than myself to apply the name . Tufted Titlings . ( teeing ground hee ) . OK . Grow up .
So Titmouses it is . This world group of wench , grouped together and known as tits , let in many related metal money which live throughout Northern Europe , Asia and North America , for there is no one , undivided “ titmouse ” . Indeed , the name began in England name to a small issue of concern English tits , and today include species from a prominent number of genus around the globe , except Australia and South America .
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