We’ve had lots of lovely photos submitted by the staff here at Pulborough including plenty rather rotund robins! However, today’s spotlight species accompanied by this lovely photo from Nikki Allen, is the great tit.
The clue is in the name with this bird, as it is the largest of the UK’s tit family. On occasion, it might be confused with the smaller blue tit but, aside from the size difference, the great tit stands out with its glossy black head, olive green back and black stripe down the chest. Although it is actually a woodland bird, this passerine is now a common visitor to most gardens having adapted to the changing habitats created by humans, so you’re quite likely to see them displaying their feisty natures and chasing the smaller birds off your feeders.
A colourful, feisty bird is not complete without a good sound system, and the great tit certainly lives up to this! The males in particular can be especially vocal, making use of 40 separate sounds to let the ladies know they’re in the area. The sound you are most likely to hear from them is their distinctive “teacher teacher” song, that has been likened to the sound of a squeaky wheelbarrow!
So what do these noisy tits like to snack on? Being an insectivorous bird, they spend the summer months foraging in the trees for caterpillars, spiders and other insects. When it comes to our gardens, they aren’t too fussy with their food choices. They will happily take advantage of any peanuts, suet, mealworms and seeds you offer up. You could try putting out one of our feeder mixes for them, as these are primarily made up of sunflower seeds which are a firm favourite with the tits—if the winter is cold enough, they can eat 44% of their bodyweight in sunflower seeds!
The great tit made it into the top 10 during last year’s Big Garden Birdwatch, coming in at number 8 on the list. We certainly get plenty visiting our feeders at the visitor centre, but will you have any in your garden this year?