Description:

Identification is not easy and takes practice to allow separation from the similar Marsh Tit. Willow Tits have a large rounded head which gives the bird the appearance of having no neck. The long, dull black cap stretches back to the mantle and sits above the white cheeks. The upperparts are a uniform brown, darker on the wings where the pale edges of the flight feathers produce a pale wing panel that may sometimes be visible in the field. The black bib is slightly larger than in the Marsh Tit and is less neatly defined.

While these visual characteristics are not completely reliable in the field, the calls of the two species are different and when heard should allow identification. The most commonly heard call notes are a thin ‘zi-zurr-zurr-zurr’ and an equally thin ‘zee-zee-zee’, whereas that uttered by the Marsh Tit is a clear ‘pitchou’.

Ecology & Behaviour:

The Willow Tit has a distribution extending right across England and Wales, north to southwest Scotland, with significant areas within this range where they are absent (the Fens, Cornwall, Somerset and North Wales). Willow Tits are often associated with scrubby woodland growing on damp ground – alder carr for example – but will also spread into orchards and gardens.

Willow Tits always excavate a new nesting hole each year and so it is extremely difficult to attract them to use a nestbox. Having said this, it can be done by setting the boxes low down, camouflaging them with bark and filling them with a mixture of wood shavings and sawdust. Like the Coal Tit, this species will store food on a regular basis, feeding on insects in the summer and seeds later in the year. Willow Tits are scarce visitors to garden bird tables.

Garden BirdWatch links

A 'Focus On' article on the Willow Tit appeared in issue 30 of the Bird Table magazine. Garden BirdWatch participants can download a copy of this article from the participant only pages.