The willow tit like the marsh tit are uncommon garden visitors and also hard to identify accurately. If you have a small tit that is not a coal tit you may have a novel visitor.
What does a willow tit look like?
Length: 11 cm .
The Willow Tit is distinguished from the Marsh Tit by its duller and spotted black, rather than glossy jet black crown. It also has pale areas on the wing, formed by the light coloured margins of its secondaries. Its flanks are a deeper brownish colour than the Marsh Tit’s and its black bib is larger. However, the most reliable way to distinguish between the Willow Tit and the Marsh Tit is by voice.
What does a willow tit sound like?
Their typical call note is a grating and harsh ‘tsshey’ or ‘aeg’. It has two distinct songs, a ‘piu-piu’, which resembles the Wood Warbler’s and an intermittent liquid song like the Garden Warbler.
When and where do willow tits nest?
Breeding starts from mid-April. They nest in a dead tree or stump, where the wood is soft enough to allow the bird to excavate its own cavity. However, it occasionally nests in a natural cavity or Woodpecker hole. The female digs the cavity and lines it with hair and a few feathers.
Six to nine eggs are laid. They are smooth and glossy white, with variable amounts of reddish markings, which may be concentrated at the larger end. The female alone incubates the eggs for thirteen to fifteen days. Both parents tend the young.
Willow tit nesting habits
As willow tits excavate their own nest holes in decaying trees and will use the wood chippings made as the base of their nest. They will have one brood per season.
Willow tit habitat
Willow Tits live in deciduous and coniferous woodland and scrub. They also like marshy areas with shrub vegetation.
What do willow tits eat?
Willow Tits mainly eat insects and larvae but they will also eat berries and seeds in the winter months.
Where should you feed willow tits
Bird feeders – Ideally above 1m in height
Bird tables – Open topped or covered
Ground – Not suitable
Are willow tits in decline?
Sadly Willow Tits have been in decline since the 1970s and currently have a UK conservation status of red. According to recent surveys, the national population of the species declined by 86% between 1995 and 2020 alone.
How long do willow tits live for?
The willow tit has an average lifespan of three years.
Where do Willow Tits go in the winter?
Willow tits do not migrate so they can be seen all year round. They are a resident of England, Wales and southern Scotland.
Where do Willow Tits sleep?
They sleep within decaying parts of trees or in holes excavated from soft deadwood. They can be encouraged to use a nest box, however you would need to add bark.
How to attract Willow Tits to your garden?
Willow tits are not a common garden bird; however you may see these birds visit your garden more commonly during the start of autumn and through winter, they may feed on seed and occasionally peanuts.
