18-11-2017 HANNINGFIELD RESERVOIR, ESSEX - BRITISH BLUE TIT (Cyanistes caeruleus ssp. obscurus)

The blue tit is a delicate little bird, weighing in at around 11g – half the size of a robin. Often considered our most attractive garden bird, the blue tit is extremely colourful, with a bright blue cap, white face, black stripes across the eyes, bright yellow breast and blue, green and white wings.

Caterpillars are a favourite for blue tits, but they also eat other insects, spiders, fruit and seeds. They are regular visitors to garden bird feeders, feasting on mixed bird seed, whole shelled peanuts, fat balls and sunflower hearts. Extremely acrobatic, they will often hang upside down from branches to access food. During the winter, blue tits join up with other tit species in search of food. 

Blue tits are found in deciduous and mixed woodland, hedges, gardens and parks across the UK. They are one of our most common birds, with an estimated population of around 3.4 million pairs.

Like all birds, blue tits can see ultra-violet light – the front of their head glows brightly under UV light, and this is how females are thought to choose their partners.

Blue tits start looking for a place to nest as early as January, usually beginning to build their nest by late March. They favour cosy cavities: rot holes and cracks in trees, old woodpecker nests, crevices in walls and nest boxes.

Once a nest site is located, blue tits will begin building a nest out of moss, hair, leaves, feathers and spider webs. Unlike many other birds, blue tits will usually only raise a single brood each spring. They lay around 7–14 eggs, and won’t begin incubating until all of the eggs have been laid.

The clutch is usually laid from late April to early May, and incubation takes round 15 days. The male will bring the female food during this period. Once hatched, the chicks spend approximately three weeks in the nest before fledging.

A sure sign of the start of spring is the sight of blue tits zipping back and forth to nest boxes, beaks full of moss. Find out when, where and how long blue tits nest, when their chicks fledge, and how important it is that they time things just right.

The blue tit’s colourful feathers make this bird easy to spot. Look out for it perched on trees in woodland or foraging for a bite to eat on garden bird feeders, and listen for its high-pitched ‘tsee-tsee-tsee-chu-chu-chu’ song.

The blue tit is a common, widespread species. Its population has grown by 21% since 1970. You can lend these birds a helping hand by placing bird feeders in your garden, particularly during the winter when food is scarce.