Crested tit may also visit birdfeeder

Photos Arne Ader
Translation Liis
Crested tit
 
Crested tit     Tutt-tihane      Lophophanes ristatus earlier name Parus cristatus
 
In the snowfall and storm of last Monday there were great tit calling at Lasnamägi; from other places the first messages arrived on January 19th. Over the years the calls for “teacher, teacher” (or, in Estonia, for a summer frock: “sitsikleit”) on average have begun around January 21st. So it is worthwhile to listen all over Estonia already.
 
Now then, about the crested tit: it cannot be said that they will not visit your bird feeder at all, but if they do, then it is highly probable that you live close to a pine forest. They are the most sedentary of our tits, and will not leave their nesting territory even in winter. There  they often keep busy in small groups.
 
Female and male have similar plumages. In nature all can recognize the crested tit from its crest. The difference in head plumage compared to other tits immediately stands out. The crested tits are among our smaller tits, on average a dozen centimetres long and weighing about the same number of grams.
 
They mostly feed on insects or small invertebrates but also eat conifer seeds that they have hidden for winter in branch and bark crevices, searching for them in winter. 
 
In conifer forests dominated by pines we can see fairly many crested tits but on the islands they are quite rare. The number of winterers is estimated at over a couple of hundred thousand individuals.
 
Crested tit
 
Crested tit observations: LINK
 
 


 

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