Spain 15: Crested Tit

Crested Tit - Spain

One of the most familiar groups of woodland birds are the tits or chickadees in the family Paridae. Various species are found from South Africa across the whole of the Old World and in North America south into Mexico. Many come to feeders and are also familiar back garden birds to people with homes within the range of the various species.

Of the various species to be found in Europe one of the most distinctive is the Crested Tit, Lopophanes cristatus. This is found across Europe into western Russia, except most of Italy. A related species, the Grey Crested Tit Lopophanes dichrous is found in south-central China and the Himalaya. There are six or seven subspecies, including a very localised endemic subspecies, scotica, that is confined to the remnants of the Caledonian pine forest in Northern Scotland. The form we found in the Pyrenees is mitratus, also found across France into eastern Germany.

Crested Tit - Scotland

 There is a very strong association of most subspecies with conifers, especially Scots Pine, but in France it also uses mixed woodland and in southern Spain and Portugal the local subspecies weigoldi is found in cork oak forest. In the Balkans they tend to be found at elevations over 1000m. In Scotland heather is an important component of the habitat as it provides food in the winter months. In Scotland at least the territories are quite small and the birds are very sedentary. Unfortunately, this means that although there has been some reforestation and the Scottish population has increased they have not spread out of their core range even into quite suitable habitat.

As with its relatives, Crested Tits take a variety of foods. In the winter months especially they feed on seeds of various kinds, but when available they will take a variety of insects especially caterpillars. This is most important when raising young, as they are raised entirely on live food. During the winter they feed lower ground or forage on the ground, at least when it is not covered by snow, but in the summer months they feed in the canopy where most of the food is. They frequently store both seeds and insects in caches. The food is placed in cracks and crevices in bark around the middle of the tree or in tufts of lichen, where they may be stuck in place with saliva or spiders’ webs.

Video of Scottish Crested Tit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbjUSXCr47w

All the different species of tit nest in holes, usually in trees, but the choice of nest site varies between species. Variables include location of favoured holes, height, and whether pre-existing holes are used or whether the birds excavate their own. Crested Tits usually use rotting tree stumps and excavate their own nest sites. These stumps must be at least 20cm in diameter to provide room. They will also use nest boxes if they are first at least filled with wood shavings to stimulate the excavation behaviour- most of the excavating being carried out by the female.  In the hole they construct a cup-shaped nest of moss, animal hair, and spider webs in which they lay between 5 and 8 (rarely 11) eggs. Breeding starts in March and there may be more than one brood, especially in the south. The eggs are incubated by the female for 13-18 days. The young fledge after around 18 days and are dependent on the adults for another 23. 

(images from wikipedia)