BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Marsh Tit

MARSH TIT
Parus palustris

Conservation listings

Europe: SPEC category 3 (declining)
UK: red (>50% population decline)

Long-term trend

UK, England: rapid decline

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Marsh Tit abundance has declined rapidly, despite improvements in breeding performance. The species' UK conservation listing has recently been upgraded from amber to red. Detailed demographic work suggests that the decline may have been driven by low annual survival and that neither increased nest predation nor interspecific competition is responsible (G.M. Siriwardena, unpubl.). Marsh Tits nest in woods as small as half a hectare (Hinsley et al. 1995), but there is evidence from CBC that declines are steeper on smaller plots (G.M. Siriwardena, unpubl.). Increased woodland isolation, loss of woodland understorey due to grazing, and reductions in the availability of dead wood may all have contributed to the decline (Vanhinsbergh et al. 2001, Perrins 2003). Following declines in France and elsewhere in northwest Europe during the 1990s, the European status of this species is no longer considered 'secure'.

Table of population changes for Marsh Tit

Source Period
(yrs) Years Plots
(n) Change
(%) Lower
limit Upper
limit Alert Comment

CBC/BBS UK 35 1967-2002 81 -63 -75 -49 >50

25 1977-2002 91 -36 -51 -18 >25

10 1992-2002 144 -11 -26 4

5 1997-2002 167 1 -12 12

CBC/BBS England 35 1967-2002 75 -62 -74 -46 >50

25 1977-2002 84 -34 -51 -15 >25

10 1992-2002 132 -9 -24 7

5 1997-2002 151 4 -8 20

BBS UK 9 1994-2003 122 16 -7 46

BBS England 9 1994-2003 110 8 -14 36

Table of productivity information for Marsh Tit

Variable Period
(yrs) Years Mean
annual
sample Trend Predicted
in first year Predicted
in last year Change Comment

Clutch size 34 1968-2002 13 None Small sample

Brood size 34 1968-2002 21 None Small sample

Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 19 Linear decline 0.0084 nests/day 0.0012 nests/day -0.0072 nests/day Small sample

Daily failure rate (chicks) 34 1968-2002 18 None Small sample

Laying date 34 1968-2002 13 Linear decline day 118 day 110 -8 days Small sample

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006