Science news from the year of the great tit edited by Marko Mägi, marko.magi@ut.ee University of Tartu Bird Ecology department
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Some days ago I observed a nuthatch in the park who was carrying something into a branch crevice. I was not the only one observing this, so also did a great tit. When the nuthatch disappeared out of sight the tit grabbed the booty and went off. This happened several times. Is this behaviour the reason why great tits don’t collect winter stores? Is it simpler to keep one’s eyes open, and memorize the hiding places of others, in order to empty them later?

A video record from the ELKS anniversary celebration conference in the Estonian National Museum where nearly 500 people attended. The Rail Baltica was one of the main topics of our conference.

Editor of science news from the Year of the Great Tit Marko Mägi, marko.magi@ut.ee
Translation Liis

Many know the various songs of great tits but few have heard the bird hissing like a serpent. Hissing can be heard when you come across a female bird sitting on her eggs in a nest box, elsewhere great tits will not use this call. It is caused by predators such as least weasel, stoat, pine marten, pygmy owl, stray cats that are threats to an adult bird in a tree hollow. Although a nest in a hollow is comparatively well protected from predators the hollow can become a mortal trap if the nest is discovered – the only escape route is controlled by the predator and in the worst case the predator may even be able to get into the hollow.

Text and video records  Olle Koert, www.tt.ee
Translation Liis
Estonian article published 31.10.2016

The entrance to the nest box of the great tit was made with a 3,5 cm drill. So that the greater spotted woodpecker would get into the box it must widen the opening by at least one and a half centimetres.

On Thursday, October 27^th,  the woodpecker came to demolish the nest box in order to make the entrance suit its own body – an hour of hammering and a couple of hours of rest, and so two days with this schedule. A woodpecker does not easily leave something half-done and persistence led to the gaol.

On Saturday it finally squeezed in and at once started to throw out the great tit’s furnishings. As we can see it is a female greater spotted woodpecker; who has no red nape patch.