 |
Predominantly a woodland bird, however they have been increasingly seen in gardens over the years. They have a distinctive yellow breast and belly with a black crown, nape and throat along with a black stripe down the centre. Males have a slightly larger strip than females. You can often hear them ‘chink chink’ing’ or ‘cha cha cha ‘each other across the garden. They are the largest of all the UK tits.
Natural habitat
Great tits prefer wooded areas. They like nest boxes as they prefer the bigger holes than found in the wild. They do like Handykam boxes as they are an ideal size. |
What do they eat
They prefer insects to nuts and seeds and do like enough cover to ground feed.
Ideal nest filming time
- Visit nest box throughout year, possibily for nightime roosting
- Starts mid March. One, maybe two clutches.
- 7-12 average number of eggs.
- Incubation for around 13 days.
- Fledge from 16 to 21 days.
Things to note
Blue tits won’t go far. They normally stay within a certain area of birth. They are fun to watch when building nests and communicating to each other when feeding.
Technical details
- Latin name: Parus major
- Family: Tits (Paridae)
Equipment: Suitable camera bird box, nest boxes and cameras for Great tits are:
Most of our camera kits and complete nest box systems will be fine. However, these are perfect:
Equipment: Suitable cameras for Blue tits are:
Place the box in a relatively high position (2-3M above the ground) slightly away from a feeding station. Make sure there is a clear flight path to the hole and can be ok in most positions.
Further reading
BTO - http://www.bto.org/gbw/Species/BIRDS_GRETI.htm
RSPB - http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greattit/index.asp
Garden Birds - http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/bluetit.htm
|
Bird information 
