Page 344 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

TITS AND ALLIES
Order Passeriformes Family Paridae Species Parus major
Great Tit shiny black dull greenish
head
black head
yellower cheeks
pale wingbar
white cheek
patch
MALE green
back
blue-grey JUVENILE
wings
IN FLIGHT bright yellow
underparts

thick black
stripe down
underside
grey tail with
white sides
MALE

FLIGHT: strong, undulating, with abrupt bursts of
whirring wingbeats.
MALE
big, colourful, bold, and aggressive tit, the
AGreat Tit is well known almost everywhere
and is one of the most familiar of garden birds;it is also common in woodland narrower black
and on bushy hillsides. It feeds more on the ground than the smaller tits, stripe down
underside
lacking their extreme lightness and agility,but is still an acrobatic bird, moving
more energetically and erratically than the woodland warblers. In spring, it
has a simple but remarkably fine and appealing song.
VOICE Extremely varied, often confusing; calls include ringing chink or pink,
piping tui tui tui, nasal churrr; song variation on repeated two-syllable phrase, sharp,
metallic, strident, musical, or grating, with varying emphasis, tea-cher tea-cher tea-cher
or seetoo seetoo seetoo.
NESTING Cup of moss, leaves, and grass in natural hole, woodpecker hole,
or nest box; 5–11 eggs; 1 brood;April–May.
FEEDING Eats insects, seeds, berries, and nuts, especially tree seeds in autumn
and winter, many from ground; commonly visits bird-tables and feeders. FEMALE
SIMILAR SPECIES
OCCURRENCE
BLUE TIT 32; pale white on nape Breeds and all-year round resident
white ring around blue
nape; see p.344 almost throughout Europe except
cap in Iceland. All-year in wide variety
smaller of mixed woodland, parks, and
no yellow
or green gardens; in S Europe, also on
warm, scrubby hillsides.
COAL TIT Seen in the UK
see p.343 J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 14cm (35in) Wingspan 22–25cm (9–10in) Weight 16–21g ( 9 ⁄16 – 3 ⁄4oz)
Social Loose flocks Lifespan 2–3 years Status Secure
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