Do blue tits often roost together?

I have just switched on my birdbox camera and can see two bluetits roosting together. They have been snuggled up for nearly an hour now, often rearranging themselves and preening. Is this normal? Everything I have read online says that they roost individually. The female has been building her nest all day and I assume has now been joined by the male.

  • Sadly I don't know the answer, so hopefully my reply will give your question a boost, and someone will be able to give you the answer you need.

    A thought I have, though unlikely, it may be a short term thing the blue tits roosting together, for warmth, its still cold out and will be for a while yet. If that is the case, then it won't be long before they roost separately.

    So fingers crossed and someone will provide the answer required.

    In the interim, keep watching, you might get the answer from your boxcam, and if i could be cheeky, please share your observations with us, Io and I know a few others would love to see the outcome of the blue tits and hopefully some youngsters.

  • Thanks Mike,
    A good theory. They are back in tonight and again look again to be settling into a snuggly night together! They certainly seem very comfortable in each others company. I'll keep updating - a fascinating study into the secret lives of bluetits!
  • Dorsetmetman said:
    Thanks Mike,


    A good theory. They are back in tonight and again look again to be settling into a snuggly night together! They certainly seem very comfortable in each others company. I'll keep updating - a fascinating study into the secret lives of bluetits!

    You're welcome, and thank you for the update.

  • So an update on our pair of roosting blue tits. The first time we noticed them roosting all night in the same box was 3rd April (they may well have been doing so for a while before this because we had not turned on the camera). Since then the female has completed her nest and laid a clutch of eggs which she has now started incubating. Every night the male comes in a few minutes after her and roosts in the corner, but as she is settled down in the nest he ends up on almost on top of her. There's a lot of hustling for space (imagine a couple fighting for their share of the duvet!). However, for the first time last night the male did not come back to roost. I hope he has found somewhere else in the garden rather than anything bad happening to him. However, she looks a lot more comfortable 'sleeping' on her own. All being well we should have some chicks this time next week. I just thought I'd share because this shared roosting, even during nesting and incubation period seems reasonably undocumented from everything I've read online.
  • This week for the first time I have witnessed my regular pair of blue tits are roosting together in the nestbox. I have never witnessed this before. The male usually goes to roost last, gets kicked out and goes in again and they both seem to settle down. I have no webcam setup. All Winter the male roosted alone and paired up in February.