After a mere three weeks of arriving here at Leighton Moss, I have already seen all of this amazing reserve’s star species. At the moment I am particularly enjoying hearing the guttural roars of our red deer stags in the build up to their rutting each evening; I love seeing our bearded tits in their striking plumage flitting around the reedbed; I gaze in adoration as our marsh harriers soar across the reserve as they hunt, and I eagerly scan the edges of our pools, searching the reedbed for water rails and bitterns. Whilst all of these impressive species give me great joy, it is a far more understated little bird that has been my personal favourite…the marsh tit!
Look out for marsh tits with with their pale bellies and dark caps. Photo by Richard Cousens.
Whilst many of us are used to seeing flocks of tits, whether its long tailed tits visiting our local parks, or blue tits, great tits and coal tits visiting our gardens and bird feeders, the delightful marsh tit is far less commonplace.
I remember when I first started out bird watching, and how my father and I hung up bird feeders in our garden and eagerly awaited the arrival of our first feathered friends. Blue tits and great tits were the first to grace us with their presence, and I could barely tell them apart! As I sat in my kitchen with my first ever bird book, trying to identify the differences between them, I came across pictures of marsh tits and willow tits for the first time. I can remember thinking to myself, “how will I ever tell these apart?” when I am struggling with the comparatively obvious differences between the blue and great tit. I was not alone however, as marsh tits and willow tits are notoriously difficult to tell apart, and are so similar in appearance that ornithologists didn't realise they were two different species until 1897!
The more familiar blue tit. Photo by Alice Hadley.
However, here at Leighton Moss I don’t need to worry about telling the two apart, as we don’t get willow tits here. Needless to say, when I saw a marsh tit hopping around on a tree outside our visitor centre, I was ecstatic! It was my first ever sighting of a marsh tit and one I won’t forget.
Leighton Moss has provided me with an amazing opportunity to become familiar these humble little birds. They frequently visit the feeders at the hideout in our reserve garden, often calling with their tell-tale “pitchou” call before landing a mere meter away, and feasting upon our feeder mix. This up close encounter gives great views of their warm brown plumage, soft pale belly, and really shows off their dark cap and bib.
Our Hideout is a great place to watch our marsh tits feeding. Photo by Alice Hadley.
Marsh tits are UK residents and breed here during the summer months. There are an estimated 41,000 breeding marsh tit territories in the UK. They occur mainly across Wales and England and despite their name, live in broadleaf woodlands and can also be seen in gardens and parks!
Marsh tits feed mainly on insects and seeds, and if they come across a good supply of food can often exhibit some very interesting behaviour. Marsh tits will often start to bury seeds, so that when food resources aren’t as plentiful they can return to the same spot and fill up on their cached seed. This behaviour is referred to as “hoarding” and can be seen in many other bird species. Marsh tits are able to successfully cache their seeds and remember where they put them due to their large hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that specialises in remembering things, and is more developed in some species of birds than others. Crows for example are known for their very good memories, enabled by their exceptionally large hippocampus, with some species of crow being able to remember where they stashed a whopping 80% of their food!
Our woodland here at Leighton Moss provides a great home for marsh tits and countless other woodland birds. Photo by Alice Hadley.
Although marsh tits live all across Wales and England, their populations have been experiencing a rapid decline here in the UK. Their continuous decline has seen their conservation status recently upgraded from amber status to red status. Their declining population is thought to be due to low annual survival rates as a result of a lack of suitable habitat. Marsh tits like woodlands that are highly diverse in plant life, but as our woodlands are experiencing increased pressure from grazing, they are becoming increasingly unsuitable for our little marsh tits. On a wider scale, numbers of marsh tits across Europe are falling, with European numbers of marsh tits considered to be highly unsecure- so they really are in need of our help!
Our continued support of the RSPB means that we are able to continue and develop all important research work which looks into why birds, such as marsh tits, are experiencing population declines. We are also providing a bigger, better and more connected home for our birds and wildlife, by enabling conservation management to be carried out to improve their habitat. Thankyou for helping to give nature a home!
Speak soon,
Alice!