Great Tit Identification Guide

The Great Tit is one of the largest tits, about the size of a sparrow.

Its head is black with white cheeks.

Its back is olive green.

Its wings are gray with sometimes shades of blue.

Its belly is yellow with a black median line, like a "black tie".

In the male, this line is broader and extends to the tail.

In the female, it is finer and stops at the abdomen.

In the juveniles (young bird that has developed its first complete plumage but has not yet reached adult plumage), the colors are duller.

Its vertical line on the belly helps to distinguish it from the Coal Tit or the Blue Tit.

The Great Tit produces simple songs, in 2 or 3 notes that repeat, such as "titu titu"..

Birds sing to mark their territory against rivals and to attract females.

Throughout the year the birds emit calls to communicate: signal their position, warn of danger, defend themselves...

The Great Tit can imitate the call of other tits (blue, marsh, coal).

The Great Tit can produce a rather short song: "titu-titu".

It can produce a longer song with more repetitions: "titu-titu-titu-titu".

The Great Tit is much less adept at acrobatics than smaller tits like the Blue Tit.

It is also one of the few that goes to the ground to feed.

It often imitates its peers. It follows another Great Tit to the feeder before also perching to take a seed.

When two Great Tits are at the feeder, the subordinate leaves.

When the Great Tit snatches a seed to eat quietly in the branches: it holds the seed between its claws, hammers it with its short and powerful beak.

The Great Tit does not hide its food but readily pillages that of other tits.

It is a sociable bird that can often be seen in small groups.

It can produce two broods per year of 6 to 12 white eggs speckled with rust.

It places its nest in any available holes (trees, walls, birdhouses, pipes...).

Its nest is made of moss, roots, and grass.

It is one of the earliest birds: from January it protects its chosen territory for reproduction and its nest will be ready by March.

Hence, birdhouses installed in winter allow it to spot its future breeding site.

From spring to autumn, it is mainly insectivorous.

The number of caterpillars impacts the number and quality of the brood in many tits.

Its fine beak allows it to pinch caterpillars.

In winter, it feeds on seeds and plants.

It lives in deciduous forests (trees that lose their leaves in winter, like oak, beech, and birch).

It is found in parks and gardens and even in city centers.

The Great Tit is easily observable all year round in gardens, being one of the most common species.

It is a sedentary or short-distance migratory species.

Some populations from northern Europe migrate to the west and south (short-distance migrant) to find food more easily. As is the case with the Blue Tit.