Blue Tit
(Cyanistes caeruleus)
A colourful little bird – and a garden favourite – Blue Tits have distinctive blue-green and yellow plumage and a blue cap. Common in deciduous woodland, hedgerows, parks and gardens, they regularly visit garden feeders living on a diet of seeds, nuts, insects and caterpillars.
Resident in the UK all-year-round, Blue Tits nest in holes in trees, cavities in walls and nesting boxes. They tend to have one brood of 8-10 eggs laid in April or May; and, generally, have a lifespan of about three years.
Fascinating fact:
The male feeds the female while she incubates their eggs
Blue Tits often form mixed flocks with other tit species, especially Great Tits, in winter; and can perform acrobatic aerial displays.
Although numbers are not under threat due to its adaptability to different habitats and the number of young, Blue Tits are preyed upon by cats, birds of prey and jays; its nests may be robbed by weasels or squirrels.
Did you know
In the days when milk was delivered to peoples’ doorsteps, blue tits learned how to open traditional British milk bottles with foil tops, to get at the cream underneath.