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.

20-11-2017 LAKESIDE THURROCK, ESSEX - BRITISH BLUE TIT (Cyanistes caeruleus ssp. obscurus)

                               

The Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is a small passerine bird easily recognizable by its blue and yellow plumage. The bird is famed for its acrobatic skills, as it can cling to the outermost branches and hang upside down when looking for food.

A typical Eurasian blue tit has an azure-blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye, and encircling the white cheeks to the chin, giving the bird a very distinctive appearance. The forehead and a bar on the wing are white. The nape, wings, and tail are blue and the back is yellowish-green. The underparts are mostly sulphur-yellow with a dark line down the abdomen. The bill is black, the legs bluish grey, and the irides dark brown. The sexes are similar, but under ultraviolet light, males have a brighter blue crown. Young blue tits are noticeably more yellow.

Eurasian blue tits are widespread and common resident breeders throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and in parts of the Middle East. They inhabit deciduous or mixed woodlands with a high proportion of oak, shrubland with scattered trees, and hedgerows. These small birds are also common in parks, gardens, and even in the center of towns.

Eurasian blue tits are usually resident and non-migratory birds. They are social and often form mixed winter flocks with Great tits. These small birds are active during the day spending most of their time searching for food in trees, bushes, and sometimes on the ground. Blue tits are very active and agile when foraging; they will often ascend a trunk in short jerky hops, imitating a treecreeper, and can hang from almost anywhere. As a rule, they roost in ivy or evergreens, but in harsh winters will roost wherever there is a suitable small hole, be it in a tree or nesting box. Eurasian blue tits sing and call throughout the year. Songs are mostly used in late winter and spring to defend the territory or to attract mates. Calls are used for multiple reasons. The birds inform one another of their location in trees by means of contact-calls.

They use alarm-calls to warn others (including birds of other species) about the presence of predators in the neighborhood. Scolding, for example, is used when a ground predator (e.g. fox, cat, or dog), a low-flying predator, or a perched owl is noticed. Sometimes this is followed by mobbing behavior in which birds gather together in flocks to counter a predator. The alarm whistle warns other birds about the proximity of a Eurasian sparrowhawk, a northern goshawk, a common buzzard, or other flying predators that form a potential danger in the air.

Eurasian blue tits are polygynous meaning that males mate with more than one female. The breeding season takes place between April and late June. Courtship includes flights performed by the male and both partners then give a series of high-pitched 'zeedling' notes. Eurasian blue tits nest in any suitable hole in a tree, wall, or stump, or an artificial nest box, often competing with house sparrows or great tits for the site. The nest itself is a cup made with dried grasses, moss, leaves, wool, hair, and feathers. The female usually produces 2 broods per year laying 7-14 eggs in each clutch. Incubation lasts about 12 to 16 days and is performed by the female. The male feeds the female during this time. The chicks hatch altricial (helpless) and are fed by both parents. They usually spend 3 weeks in the nest before fledging.           

18-11-2017 BRENTWOOD, 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.