View From The Shed by Shaun Finnie - WHAT'S IN A NAME?

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I love Chickadees. They're small, colourful and terribly inquisitive, always on the move and sticking their little beaks into everything. Here in Britain we have six (not eight – I'll come to that later) birds in this Paridae family. We don't call them Chickadees though, that's their American name. In other parts of the English speaking world they refer to them as Titmice. Here, they're simply Tits.

They're very sociable little birds, sometimes even coming together in sizeable mixed-species flocks. A few of our six are quite common. You may even have them visiting your garden. So without further ado, here's Shaun's Handy-Dandy Guide to the funny little birds with the funny little name.

Blue Tit – Our entire wild carnivorous food chain would probably collapse without the mating powers of these cheerful chaps. They are such prolific breeders that every bird or mammal that eats meat will happily eat them. But they're lovely to look at and just about everyone can recognise them. Blue cap plus yellow chest plus angry expression equals Blue Tit. Look on your nearest bird feeder for them,

Great Tit – If you hear a bird around the size of a small Robin shouting, “Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!” then you've found a Great Tit. They have a distinct black cap and a thick black stripe running down the length of their yellow chest. Don't let that prominent call deceive you though, they have a much larger vocabulary than that. It's quite common to hear an unusual call or song that sounds like it could be a rare visitor, only to find that it's a Great Tit who's learned a new tune.

Coal Tit – This tiny, drabber version of a Great Tit has a badger's markings on its head. This has lead to them earning the name 'Little Blackcap' in several older bird guides. They're the smallest of the 'big three' Tit species and also the least numerous but they are doing relatively well these days with their numbers increasing in the last fifty years or so.

If you're really lucky you can sometimes see all three of these Tit species feeding in the same tree, even on different parts of the same branch. It's a brilliant example of how they've all evolved to fill a particular niche with the heaviest, the Great Tit, feeding closer to the trunk of the tree, the Blue Tit in the middle and the little Coal Tit hanging underneath at the ends of the branches where its tiny thin beak can probe around the newest, delicate shoots. All three of these species are quite easily identified which is not something that can be said for the following pair of commonly confused birds.

Willow Tit – I spotted one of these at Potteric Carr in Doncaster this week. It's about the size of a Blue Tit but without any blue. Instead it's coloured with warm toffee tones. We have occasionally seen them at Old Moor but their numbers are now dwindling to worrying levels across the country.

Marsh Tit – I was lucky enough to see one of these little fellows this week at our Sherwood Forest RSPB site (quite near to the Major Oak if you're planning a visit). The Marsh and Willow Tit are very similar to look at but there are around ten times more Marsh than the seriously threatened Willow Tit. There are several small differences between the two that the serious birder might spot but they rarely nest in the same habitat so I just tend to do the research on which species is most likely to be seen in the area that I've spotted them. That's good enough for a tick in my book. Literally.

Crested Tit – If you haven't been to north end of Scotland then you probably haven't seen a wild British Cresty. They are confined to the ancient Caledonian woodlands and very rarely stray south of the border into England at all. Fortunately the species has a widespread and healthy population in mainland Europe so it isn't seen as a threatened species worldwide. Imagine a Great Tit with a mottled black and white face and that tell-tale crest and you can't go wrong.

Long-Tailed Tit – I love how a Long-Tailed Tits tail is longer than the rest of it's body. And you never see just one of them. These tiny golf-balls-on-sticks usually fly around with their entire extended family in tow and sleep huddled up to them in great numbers for warmth. However the Latin name 'Aegithalos Caudatus' indicates that these are not part of the Paridae family but of a similar family called Bushtits which are related to Flycatchers and several types of Warbler. So now you know. But does it really matter? They're still lovely to watch.

Bearded Tit – This is another bird that isn't really a Tit at all. It was removed from that group and placed in with the Parrotbills, before further study showed that it wasn't one of those either and was actually in a family all of it's own, the Reedlings. Indeed, their name is now officially Bearded Reedling. You'll see this used more and more frequently in the future as the Tit name is dropped. The reason that I'm making a special case and including them in this blog is because they are so rare here, with less than a thousand breeding pairs in the country. If you're very lucky you might see some of our little flock of ginger golf balls at Old Moor but they shouldn't really be called Bearded any more than Tits. They're mustacheoed in a leather biker fashion. Now that's a cool look if you can pull it off.

So that's my look at the Paridae family of British birds. I'm pleased to say that I made it all the way to the end without having to resort to any childish giggling or innuendo. My mum would be so proud. Maybe next week I might go to the coast to see some Boobies (sorry Mum, I couldn't resist).