Blue Tit of the UK and Ireland

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The Blue Tit (cyanistes caeruleus) is one of the more colourful and familiar small garden birds of Britain and Ireland. They were originally woodland birds who have adapted to living in gardens and parks in towns and cities. The Blue Tit population has increased in recent years mainly because of peanuts and other food left for them by people in gardens. Other names for the Blue Tit include the Eurasian Blue Tit, the 
Tom Tit, Blue cap, Tit mouse, "Blue Nun" (Ireland) and Blue bonnet.

The Blue Tit was classified as Cyanistes in 2005 and is a genus of birds in the tit family Paridae. Cyanistes is from the Greek meaning "dark blue". Blue Tits are the most common resident species of Tit in Europe and the only member of the Tit family who has blue colouration.

Blue Tits are sociable and active birds who live in trees, shrubs, bushes and hedges in a wide variety of habitats. They are regularly found in woodland, farmland, parks and gardens.

Areas with large, mature trees such as oak trees in deciduous and mixed woodland are preferred. Mature oak trees provide a lot of dead wood for nesting. Fewer Blue Tits are found in conifer trees.

They were originally woodland birds who have adapted to living near humans in suburban gardens and parks in cities. Food left in gardens are a valuable source of nourishment all year round.

Resident birds do not migrate in winter and tend to remain near the places where they hatched. Breeding usually occurs in the same areas they inhabit.

Their main diet is omnivorous and includes insects (flies, aphids etc) and their larvae (caterpillars), spiders, seeds, grain, fruit, berries, nuts (eg birch), buds and scraps left in gardens. Thousands of caterpillars are fed to the young in the summer.

Most resident Blue Tits do not move far from the areas they inhabit. They regularly feed in hedgerows, trees, bushes, shrubs while foraging for food.

Small flocks are formed in the winter with other small birds such as Great Tits, Long-Tailed Tits, Goldcrests and Treecreepers which roam around woodland, gardens and parks looking for food.

Some Blue Tits fly from Scandinavia and northern Europe and spend the winter on the east and south-east coasts of Britain. Occasionally there are large scale seasonal movements in winter (or an irruption) when birds from Europe fly across the North Sea to escape very cold winter weather conditions.

The Blue Tit is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.

The Blue Tit is a green-listed species of bird in Britain.

The British Trust for Ornithology said the Blue Tit population increased up to 2010, especially in England. "Food provision in gardens during winter and availability of nest boxes, which may reduce egg and nestling predation, have both increased and may have contributed to the rise in population".

The charity also said, "Numbers have shown widespread shallow increase across Europe since 1980" (BTO - trends).

The breeding population of Blue Tits in Britain:

• - increased by 7% between 1995 and 2011 (RSPB)
• - increased by 2% between 2013/14 (BBS -page 13)
• - increased by 2% between 2014/15 (BBS - page 13)
• - declined by 7% between 2015/16 (BBS - page 15)
• - declined by 5% between 2016/17 (BBS - page 15)
• - increased by 13% between 2017/18 (BBS - page 15)

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch found in 2018 that all the species of Tit, including Blue Tits, have increased. "The general feeling is that tits are able to adapt better and take advantage of the resources people provide in their gardens" (Guardian). Nest boxes have also helped the population increase in both Britain and Ireland.

Blue Tits have also benefited from "mild start to the winter that followed a good breeding season" in 2017.

"The event took place before the freezing weather dubbed the 'Beast from East' arrived and the storm’s impact will not be known until later in the year after breeding number surveys are completed".

The British Trust for Ornithology said, " cold, wet weather in the spring of 2015 resulted in a particularly poor breeding season for blackbirds, great tits and blue tits, with numbers all well below average during the second half of 2015" (Guardian).

Cold, wet weather in the breeding season can affect the Blue Tit population quite severely, especially if bad weather coincides with the emergence of woodland caterpillars.

Scientists in Britain said in 2018 that Blue Tits and other woodland birds could be affected by climate change. "With spring coming earlier due to rising temperatures, leaves and caterpillars emerge earlier in the year, and forest birds which feed on them have to breed sooner to avoid missing out on food sources for their hungry chicks".

"The earlier the spring, the less able the birds are to do this, and the peak in caterpillars is more out of sync with the peak in chicks demanding food" (Irish News).

The Blue Tit is also green listed in Ireland. Birdwatch reported the population was stable with a slight increase between 1998 and 2010 (Birdwatch - page 6). The Birdwatch Survey said they were the third most commonly seen bird in gardens in 2016 (Irish Examiner).