Coal Tits Galore!

Participants in the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch survey have been keeping weekly records of the birds seen in their gardens over the last 20 years, an incr­­­edible citizen science project that enables us understand how birds use human habitats such as gardens. Coal Tits are among our smallest garden birds, and are often driven away from bird feeders by the larger, more aggressive Great Tits and Blue Tits. They have a habit of darting to a feeder, quickly taking a seed and hiding it in moss or a crevice to eat later. Coal Tits can be recognised by their striking black-and-white striped heads, and by their overall brown and grey plumage, with none of the yellow or blue colour seen in Great Tits and Blue Tits.

In the summer Coal Tits normally remain within woodland, and are recorded in fewer than a third of gardens. In the winter they ­are seen in more gardens, and are generally recorded by at least 40% of Garden BirdWatchers in November, when they are driven to garden bird feeders by cold weather. However, in some years they are seen in many more gardens, and research using GBW data has shown that their presence is affected by seasonal availability of tree seed crops in the wider countryside. This year is turning out to be exceptional, with Coal Tit seen in an unprecedented 70% of gardens in November!

If you’re not sure what they look like, try this article –

https://www.bto.org/about-birds/nnbw/nesting-birds/coal-tit