Photography, Photos & VideosPicture of the Week - TUTI nesting in flying squirrel box

Picture of the Week – TUTI nesting in flying squirrel box

TUTI nest in Flying Squirrel box. Photo by Keith Kridler.TUTI nest in Flying Squirrel box. Photo by Keith Kridler.

TUTI nest in Flying Squirrel box. Photo by Keith Kridler.

Photos by Keith Kridler of TX, taken 04/11/2010

The Tufted Titmice have built nests in a Flying Squirrel nestbox, in both the upper and lower compartment at the same time. They ended up laying eggs in the bottom compartment that has the entrance facing the woods instead of the highway. There is an entrance hole in the lower compartment and then another escape hole or entrance hole in the upper compartment. The squirrels have to go through the two upper floors where the notches are cut out if a rat snake comes for dinner.

Tufted titmice seem to like boxes with large interiors, near the tree line, and boxes hanging on trees. More about Titmice nesting habits.

When I get Tufted Titmice nesting in a Zuern (tree branch) box, they tend to fill up the whole box, both in front of and behind the baffle, and lay their eggs in the back. See photo.

References and More Information:

Previous Pictures of the Week: © Original photographs are copyrighted, and may not be used without the permission of the photographer. Please honor their copyright protection. If you would like to use a photo for educational purposes, you can contact me.


You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So conservation means that you have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is vital not only for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself—a point that seems to escape many people.
-Gerald Durrell, The Nature Conservancy


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