The Willow Tit is a small Eurasian cousin of North America's chickadees, with a black cap and , white cheeks, and a gray-brown back. It does not occur in the United States; it lives in temperate and subarctic forests across Europe and Asia. Unlike most of its relatives, it digs its own nest hole in soft, rotting wood.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 4.5 in (11.5 cm) long and weighs about 0.4 oz (11 g). Black cap and bib, white cheeks, gray-brown upperparts, and buff underparts. Males and females look alike.
- Voice
- Its typical call is a nasal, buzzy "zee, zee, zee."
Look-alikes
Marsh TitPoecile palustris
The Marsh Tit has a glossier black cap, a smaller bib, and usually no pale wing panel; the Willow Tit looks thicker-necked. Voice is the most reliable clue: the Marsh Tit gives an explosive "pitchou."
Why they get mixed upThe two share much of their range in Europe and Asia and look almost identical.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- conifer forests
- damp woodland
- Range
- Temperate and subarctic Europe and Asia, east to Japan. It is not found in North America.
- Seasonal presence
- Mostly a year-round resident; most birds do not migrate.
Behavior
- Diet
- Insects and caterpillars, plus seeds.
Life cycle
- Nest
- It excavates its own hole, often in rotten wood, and builds a cup of felted material inside.
- Clutch size
- In Europe, 6–9 eggs
- Incubation
- In Europe, 13–15 days, by the female
- Fledging
- Both parents feed the chicks, which leave the nest after 17–20 days. One brood a year.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
- Status
- The global population is large but slowly declining. In Britain, where a distinct subspecies lives, numbers fell 83% between 1995 and 2017.
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