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| International Name: |
Blue Tit |
Scientific Name: |
Parus caeruleus |
| Length: |
11.5 cm (4½")
|
Wing Span: |
17.5-20 cm (7-8") |
| Weight: |
9-12.5 g (¼-½
oz) |
Breeding Pairs: |
3 300 000 |
| Present: |
All Year |
Status: |
Green List |
Description
At first glance
the acrobatic and cheeky Blue Tit is a blue and yellow bird.
A closer inspection reveals blue wings, tail and crown, yellow under parts,
greenish back and mantle, white cheeks, and black eye stripe, bib and collar.
They also have a black streak down the middle of the belly, and a white wing bar
(across the coverts).
The sexes are similar, though the female is slightly paler.
The juvenile birds are duller than the adults and have greener crown, wings and
tail, and yellow cheeks.
Voice
The Blue Tit's song is "tsee-tsee-tsu-hu-hu-hu-hu" and can be heard all year
round. The alarm call is a churring sound.
Feeding
Blue Tits feed
mostly on insects, especially caterpillars, and seeds. In springtime they feed
also on pollen, nectar and sap, and in the autumn on berries.
In the garden they search among the plants and crevices for insects (e.g.
aphids, beetles, and caterpillars) and spiders, but also take sunflower hearts
or high energy seed from bird feeders, or peck at a suet food bar or peanuts.
They are one of the most agile birds, and they will entertain for hours by
hanging upside down from feeders, branches, etc. They are also opportunists and
will often peck through foil milk bottle tops for the cream.
Blue Tits, and other tits, also peck putty around windows, usually at winter
time. Some may simply be hungry and attracted to the linseed oil in the putty,
though it is thought more likely that they are simply searching for food.
Breeding
Blue Tits will
nest in any hole in a tree, wall or nest box. They are well known for nesting in
more unusual places, such as letter boxes, pipes, etc. The nest is a cup made by
the female from moss, wool, dead leaves, spiders' webs, and lined with down.
Their clutch size is the largest among nidicolous species, laying typically
10 to 12 eggs. The eggs are laid at such a time that green caterpillars will be
abundant when the chicks hatch. Second clutches are rare.
The eggs are smooth and glossy, and white with purplish-red or reddish-brown
spots. They are about 16 mm by 12 mm. The female incubates the eggs by herself.
After the young hatch, they are fed by both parents.
| Breeding Starts |
Number of Clutches |
Number of Eggs |
Incubation (days) |
Fledge (days) |
|
mid-April |
1-2 |
5-16 |
12-16 |
15-23 |
Comments
For many years
families of Blue Tits have been reared in one of our bird boxes during the
spring and summer months. After the juvenile birds have flown the nest, the
young can be seen in and around the garden in a flock foraging for caterpillars,
etc.
Reproduced with kind permission of
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