296 : Blue Tit

Blue Tit - Cyanistes caeruleus

I am not sure how I got to bird number 296 without posting up a Blue Tit. Well we don't have them in Dubai for starters so I was always waiting to get a shot in the UK while on a trip. Or perhaps I was saving this one up as they are "always there". For most people in Europe these are a common or garden bird - but unlike say a starling or a pigeon generally appreciated because of their beautiful appearance. There are over 25,000,000 pairs across Europe. 

It is the Blue Tits ability to utilise every conceivable nesting opportunity created by man that has underpinned that success. Postboxes get closed, old containers on shelfs in garages overrun, crevices in brickwork or eaves of houses colonised. Despite their ingenuity we still help them with an estimated 4 million nest boxes in British gardens. Breeding takes places usually on a timed basis for the appearance of the small soft green caterpillars that in turn appear with the first flushes of bright green on native trees. Silver Birches are a favourite from my observation as well as native oaks and indeed any native species of tree supporting native insects. They are of course well used to exploiting bird feeders - the importance of which had increased dramatically. Breeding is usually around a polygamous male who holds a small territory with perhaps 2 or 3 females. Broods vary from 6-16 eggs and dependant on the year a couple of broods can be fledged. 

In the Winter the birds will gather in large and often mixed flocks. A favourite wood of mine when I lived in the North West consisted of damp ground in the Winter and silver birch and alder. The wood would often hold a mixed Winter feeding flock with blue, great and coal tit, nuthatch, treecreeper, goldcrest and if I was super lucky a lesser spotted woodpecker. All gathered together for security. The more pairs of eyes to spot a marauding Sparrowhawk the better Always look at a tit flock in Winter. Don't stop at the third blue tit and scan from the bottom of the tree to the top. You never know what you will find but as you get to the canopy you may find blue tits like christmas baubles hanging off the branches - so many acrobats in a small brightly coloured troupe. 

I was looking at a piece about blue tit nesting habits and have just read a piece about a blue tit nesting in the skull of a decomposed hanged man in medieval times ! Nice ! They really are wedded to us. 

Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus 

Conwy RSPB, North Wales

Boxing Day