When you have a juvenile sense of humor, like I do, you live for opportunities like this. During the winter months, I keep feeder cages filled with suet cakes. I have three of them. The birds(and squirrels) completely devour them in two to three days. Many of the birds that frequent them have been featured here on my blog. The ones that haven't evaded my camera, that is.
About last Spring, I noticed a bird for the first time. I'm sure that it had been there the whole time, but it wanted me to notice it now. It was very cute. It looked like a small, gray cardinal. Flipping through my trusty bird guide, I landed upon an incredible discovery.
"I just saw my first titmouse!", I shouted gleefully as I ran through the house. "I just saw my first titmouse!" A tufted titmouse, to be exact.
Forgive my juvenile self, but ever since I learned there was a bird called a titmouse, I've wanted to see one. I mean, who named it? I can think of a few people who could have. Some of you are reading this. 😉 But, why the name "titmouse"? It's clearly a bird, and not a mouse. And in my, dare I say...expert opinion, it doesn't really resemble a tit, either.
It turns out, the word "tit" comes from a Scandinavian word meaning "little". And the "mouse" part comes from and olde English word "mase", which means "bird". So, it's quite literally, "little bird". How clever.
Perhaps a more interesting aspect is what to call a groups of titmouses. Uh, titmice? The "mouse" part has a completely different origin from the similarly named rodent. So, why should it follow the same rules of grammar? I know, Merriam-Webster says it's "titmice". But, can you really trust them?
I think the safest thing to do...to not offend anyone, is to call a group of these birds..."tits". That'll please everyone. Tits, it is.
Wherever we are, we are surrounded by nature. It's always trying to communicate with us. Take time to notice. #NoticeNature.
