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Willow Tit

Willow Tit

Poecile montanus

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The Willow Tit is a small, resident tit common across temperate and subarctic Europe and Asia. It has a matt black cap and bib, grey-brown upperparts and buffish underparts. Tied to damp, mixed and conifer woodland, it ranges further north than the very similar Marsh Tit. It excavates its own nest hole in rotten wood and has declined sharply in many regions.

Did you know?

  • It is one of the few small songbirds that excavates its own nest hole.
  • It was recognised as separate from the Marsh Tit only in the late 19th century.

Voice

Song

About the species

Identification

A small tit with a matt black cap and bib, white cheeks, a grey-brown back and pale underparts; a pale panel shows on the wing. It resembles Marsh Tit, but the pale wing panel is usually clearer, the cap duller and the bib larger; the calls differ – Willow Tit has nasal “tchay” calls, whereas Marsh Tit's call is a sharp “pitchoo”.

Family

Paridae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

grey, black, white, brown

About the habitat

Damp deciduous, mixed and coniferous forest, especially young birch and willow stands, forest edges, clearings and scrub near bogs, with plenty of dead wood.

Diet

Insects, especially caterpillars, spiders and other invertebrates in summer; seeds of birch, alder and conifers, buds and berries in winter, and stored food. It visits feeders.

Behaviour

Resident and territorial, often in pairs, joining mixed flocks outside the breeding season. It forages acrobatically among branches and twigs and caches food in bark and lichen. It excavates its own nest hole in soft, rotten wood; the female incubates while both parents feed the chicks. Its typical call is a nasal, drawn-out “tchay-tchay”.

Sources

Photo: Francis C. Franklin, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poecile montanus kleinschmidti.jpg

Sound: Anthony Wetherhill, XC462898, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/462898

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_tit

See also