The blue tit
The blue tit is quite a common garden bird, and is a good predator of insects, both in summer and in winter. It likes to nest in deciduous trees, where it lives all year round.
Their population has declined in France over the last 40 years due to deforestation. Despite this, the species is still quite common in our regions. It is recognizable by its large skull, its wings, its feet and toes, and by its blue tail, which is where its name comes from. The rest of its body is greenish-brown between its wings and yellow on its breast. This pretty mixture of colours is common to males and females. The female tends to have more intense colours and markings than the male.
The habitat of the blue tit is mainly in regions where there are deciduous trees. It can be found in the mountains as high up as 1,000 metres. It settles in temperate regions (Europe, the Middle East, the north east of Africa), but is migratory in colder regions like central Europe.
The fact that it settles in our country makes it a helpful ally of the gardener. In winter, it feeds on the eggs and larvae of insects (beetles, caterpillars, flies, stink bugs, greenfly). It hunts for its food high up in the trees. Though small in size, it's a real little fighter. It chases off intruders to it's hunting ground. In winter, you can entice it into your garden with seeds. You can also arrange a little shelter for it where there is ivy, diciduous trees, or crevasses or holes, as it likes to shelter from the cold.
In our part of the world, the blue tit reproduces between April and July. It builds its nest in the hole of a hollow tree or in a hole in the wall, sheltered from prevailing winds. It lays between 9 and 13 eggs. The female broods for no longer than 15 days. After about 20 days, the young tits start to fly, and they leave the nest after 4 weeks. The blue tit has a very sharp, shrill cry. Its song is a modulation of this cry, producing a characteristic trilling sound.
Did you know ?
- The great tit, the marsh tit and the blue tit live in perfect harmony. Each species chooses a part of the tree to nest in : the great tit chooses the bottom part of the tree, the marsh tit the middle part and the blue tit the upper part.