Common name: Great tit
Scientific name: Parus major
Family: Paridae
Description: the largest of our native tits, it has a black head and neck, prominent white cheeks, olive upperparts and yellow underparts. Its song is loud and repetitive.
Habitat: the reserve’s great tits live in our woodlands and hedges. They are cavity nesters favouring small holes in our veteran trees.
Nutrition: predominantly insectivores, they hunt insects, caterpillars and spiders among the outer branches of a tree. This is another species that times the hatching of its nestlings to the winter moth caterpillar hatch. Our great tits probably also visit Southwick’s and Lambrok Close’s bird tables, where they squabble, chase off smaller birds and feed on a selection of fats and seeds.
One of the reserve’s many great tits, photographed in early March 2020 in the willow trees by the Decorated Bridge.
Origin: native to the British Isles
Population: estimated at 2.6 million breeding territories by the BTO in 2009 and steadily rising since.
Conservation status: common; classified in the UK as Green under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2021).
DYK: Male great tits have a broad black stripe on their belly, while females have a much thinner black stripe. The male’s belly stripe is assumed to be an indicator of his success: the wider the stripe the more attractive he is to the females.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 