[250] Parus major, Great Tit

[250] Parus major, Great Tit

Introduction

Parus major, the Great Tit, is a common and widespread woodland bird, slightly larger than its relative [106] the Blue Tit. Like the Blue Tit it is seen in urban gardens and is attracted to bird feeders.

The word Tit is used in the names of most birds in the family Paridae and several other small birds.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Passeriformes

Family – Paridae (Tits)

Genus – Parus

Scientific Name – Parus major

Name

Parus is the Latin for this bird (and perhaps for other types of Tit.) Major means greater.

Description

The genus Parus used to include most of the fifty species now in the family Paridae but several recent changes have split almost all of them to other genera. It now contains just the Great Tit and three other geographically separate species. (One of them, the Japanese Tit is almost identical to the Great Tit and is sometimes considered to be a subspecies.)

The appearance of Parus major has much in common with that of the Blue Tit. It is slightly larger, with a flatter head and shorter bill. The head has triangular white cheeks but is otherwise all black (or very dark blue.)

In males there is a marked dark stripe down the breast. This is less evident in females and juvenile birds.

Habitat

Parus major is common and widespread across Europe and parts of Asia and northern Africa. They like woodland environments and do not migrate in winter. It is a bird that has adapted to live with human settlements and it lives in parks and gardens. It comes to bird feeders in woodlands and gardens.

Other Notes

The Great Tit is notorious among birders, who generally prefer not to be call birdwatchers because they listen as well as look. It has at least forty varieties of call sounds that are not exciting enough to be called songs.

See also

There are several other similar small birds that may be found in Britain. The following species are called Tits.

• Cyanistes caeruleus, Blue Tit.
• Poecile palustris, the Marsh Tit, and Poecile montanus, the Willow Tit. Both are slightly smaller than Blue Tits, much rarer and only found in woodland. They are almost impossible to tell apart except by the sound of their calls.
• Lophophanes cristatus, the Crested Tit. Somewhat similar to the Blue Tit with a very definite crest. This bird is restricted to coniferous forests so its British range is restricted to parts of Scotland.
• Aegithalos caudatus, the Long-tailed Tit. Like a small tit with a long tail, this bird used to be in the genus Parus but has been split so that it doesn’t even make Paridae. It is fairly common and may be seen in parks and gardens, always as a flock of about twenty birds.
• Panurus biarmicus, the Bearded Tit, has never been a true tit and is now also called the Bearded Reedling or Bearded Parrotbill. It looks quite similar to a Long-tailed Tit and should more accurately be called moustached than bearded. They are not common and you are unlikely to see one more than a metre away from reeds in wetland environments.
• Remiz pendulinus, the Penduline Tit, also not in Paridae, looks quite similar to the Bearded Tit and is a very rare visitor to the UK.

For several other species of small birds see [005] Reed Warbler.

[106] Cyanistes caeruleus, Blue Tit

[106] Cyanistes caeruleus, Blue Tit

Introduction

Cyanistes caeruleus, the Blue Tit, is a small, common and widespread woodland and garden bird, no longer considered to be in the same genus as the Great Tit.

The species has been split fairly recently so this is the Eurasian Blue Tit to distinguish it from the African species.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Passeriformes (Perching Birds or Song Birds)

Family – Paridae

Genus – Cyanistes

Scientific Name – Cyanistes caeruleus

Until 2005 it was Parus caeruleus. When it was split to a new Genus, the African Blue Tit, formerly considered as a subspecies became a separate species. Cyanistes teneriffae.

Name

Tit is an old word of German origin for a small bird, originally as titling or titmouse. The Blue Tit is clearly related to [250] the Great Tit, although the two are no longer in the same genus.

Cyanistes is a made-up word based on the colour cyan. Caeruleus is Latin for a dark blue colour. (Parus is the Latin for the Tit.)

Description

Cyanistes caeruleus is one of our smallest birds. Both sexes are identical.

The top and back of its head is blue and a dark blue line circles the head through the eyes. The rest of the head is white. Underparts are yellow with a dark line down the centre of the abdomen. The back is partly dark blue and partly a dark yellow-green with white markings.

They feed mostly on insects but also eat seeds.

Their biggest natural predators are [001] Sparrowhawks and [144] Domestic Cats.

Habitat

The Blue Tit is very common and widespread over almost all of Europe. In Britain it is found in deciduous woodlands, parks and gardens, even in town centres. They are frequent visitors to bird feeders where they can be quite acrobatic.

Other Notes

In woodland environments, Blue Tits will almost always be among the visitors to bird tables and bird feeders. They are not deterred by the presence of other larger birds.

See also

The Great Tit will also visit birdfeeders in woodlands and urban environments. There are others in the Tit family that will only be found in rural environments – Coal Tit, Marsh Tit and Willow Tit.