Alert Status:
Green - 31% increase
Estimated number of UK breeding
territories: 2.35 million (updated 2016)
Listen to Great tit song:
Larger than any of their relatives, the great tit is a familiar sight for most of us, not to be confused with the blue tit which is much smaller. Both great tit sexes have a glossy black head with white cheek patches, with a green back and yellowish underbelly with a black stripe down the middle. The wings are a pale grey-blue, as is the tail.
Males have a broader black stripe on the belly than the female, and juveniles are duller all over, with yellowish, rather than white, cheek patches.
Average Length: 14 cm
Average Lifespan: 2-3 Years
Average Wingspan: 22-25cm
Great tits eat seeds, berries, insects, and nuts. They are frequent visitors to bird tables and hanging feeders, though they can be seen foraging on the ground more frequently than other tit species. Caterpillars are a firm favourite for feeding their young in springtime, but winter favourites are tree seeds and winter berries.
How to feed: Hanging feeders
What to feed: Peanuts, suet treats, mixed seeds, sunflower hearts
Breeding normally takes place between April and May, with females constructing cup shaped nest made from moss, down, leaves and grass. Great tits will frequently use nest boxes with a larger hole, or natural cavities in trees or old woodpecker holes. They normally produce only 1 brood, or around 5-10 eggs which is incubated by the female for around 2 weeks. Chicks fledge after approximately 3 weeks.
Great tits are of least concern globally and ranked green on the birds of conservation concern here within the UK. The factors that threaten this species are climate change, agricultural intensification, and habitat loss. Climate change is a particular issue as the warming spring temperatures have created a mismatch between peak breeding season and the emergence of caterpillars. In addition, European ringing recovery data shows that the predation rate by cats of great tits was ~27% over the years 2000-2015, so this is also a potential concern.
Supplementary feeding on bird feeders using peanuts or suet treats and provide nest boxes with larger hole entrances.
Employ our win-win solutions if you have a cat at home to keep your songbirds safe.
Provide fresh, clean water, especially during the heat of summer and depths of winter, when it can be tricky to come by.
Did you know that the bills of great tits have got longer over time? Research suggests that this trait may have rapidly evolved to allow great tits to better utilise bird feeders and therefore fare better than other species at exploiting food sources.
BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Parus major. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 29/05/2022.
Bosse, M., Spurgin, L.G., Laine, V.N., Cole, E.F., Firth, J.A., Gienapp, P., Gosler, A.G., McMahon, K., Poissant, J., Verhagen, I., Groenen, M.A.M., Van Oers, K., Sheldon, B.C., Visser, M.E., Slate, J. (2017) Recent natural selection causes adaptive evolution of an avian polygenic trait. Science. 358(6361): 365-368.
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
Robinson, R.A. (2005) BirdFacts: profiles of birds occurring in Britain & Ireland. BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/birdfacts, accessed on 29 May 2022)
Van Noordwijk, A.J., McCleery, R.H., Perrins, C.M. (1995) Selection for the Timing of Great Tit Breeding in Relation to Caterpillar Growth and Temperature. Journal of Animal Ecology. 64(4): 451-458.
Visser, M.E., Lindner, M., Gienapp, P., Long, M.C., Jenouvrier, S. (2021) Recent natural variability in global warming weakened phenological mismatch and selection on seasonal timing in great tits (Parus major). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288: 20211337. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1337
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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