Alert Status:
Green - 3% increase ↑
Estimated number of UK breeding
pairs: 660,000 (updated 2016)
Listen to Coal tit song:
Coal tits are the smallest of the British tits, and unlike the other common tits (blue tits, great tits), they support no distinctive bright blue, yellow or green in their plumage. Coal tits have a striking black head, with white cheek patches and a white patch on the nape of their neck. They have buff underparts, with an olive-greyish back and white bars on the wings. Males and females look alike, but juveniles have a yellowish nape and cheek and are duller overall.
Average Length: 10-11.5 cm
Average Lifespan: 2-3 Years
Average Wingspan: 17-21 cm
Coal tits eat mainly insects in the summer months, with a particular love for small spiders and their eggs, but they will also feed on seeds and nuts.
They may visit garden feeders and take the food away to cache for later or eat in shrubs.
How to feed: Hanging Bird Feeders
What to feed: Mealworms, peanuts, sunflower seeds and sunflower hearts
Breeding season for coal tits takes place often between April-June Though they are one of the smallest tits, their nests are larger than great tits, with lots of hair/fluff used in the lining of the nest, constituting up to 37% of the nest mass. These cup shaped nests are mainly made of moss and leaves and will often be seen nesting in the hole of trees, or in small nest boxes. Coal tits have 1-2 broods annually, each clutch containing 7-11 eggs, with second clutches more common in conifers. After two weeks, the eggs will hatch, and will fledge in another two weeks.
Coal tits are currently green listed and are not in decline in the UK. However, they do suffer from many of the same threats as our other songbirds. Climate change, and cold winters are thought to have some effect on coal tits and their ability to survive, and urbanisation may decrease available habitat. Although coal tits rarely feed on the ground, previous research has found that coal tits are also susceptible to predation by cats (up to 17% predated based on European ringing recovery data from 2000-2015).
Supplementary feeding on bird tables
Provide a nest box for coal tits to nest in
Use our win-win solutions to deter cat hunting
Though most coal tits only live for 2-3 years, in 2008 a ringed coal tit was recorded to be 9 years, 2 months and 25 days old!
Alambiaga, I., Álvarez, E., Diez-Méndez, D., Verdejo, J., Barba E. (2020) “The tale of the three little tits”: different nest building solutions under the same environmental pressures. Avian Biology Research. 13(3): 49-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/1758155920943116
BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Periparus ater. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/06/2022.
Pavisse, R., Vangeluwe, D., Clergeau, P. (2019) Domestic Cat predation on garden birds: an analysis from European ringing programmes. Ardea. 107: 103–109. doi:10.5253/arde.v107i1.a6
Perrins, C.M. (1979) British Tits. London: Collins.
Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland. BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts, accessed on 28 March 2022)
Stanbury, A.J., Eaton, M.A., Aebischer, N.J., Balmer, D., Brown, A.F., Douse, A., Lindley, P., McCulloch, N., Noble, D.G., Win, I. (2021) The status of our bird populations: the fifth Birds of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and second IUCN Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain. British Birds. 114
Woodward, I., Aebischer, N., Burnell,D., Eaton, M., Frost, T., Hall, C., Stroud, D. & Noble, D. (2020) Population estimates of birds in Great Britain and the United Kingdom. British Birds. 113: 69–104.
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