Fun Willow Tit Facts For Kids
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The willow tit (Poecile montanus) is a bird that belongs to the tit family. It is a common resident of England and southern Scotland and usually prefers wet woodland. This bird is almost similar to its cousin, the marsh tit.
They can be distinguished from each other based on head color, voice, and habitats. The willow tit mostly feeds on insects, but it can also eat seeds and berries during food scarcity. Their residence consists of regions with abundant trees and food.
They build their nests by piercing wood with a small beak. In this way, they are similar to woodpeckers, as they also pierce wood for their nests. They exist mostly in the European region.
This bird is a rare bird species that cannot be found easily. It has a body coloration of black, white, and pale brown, same as its identical marsh tit. This bird breeds far in the North.
The breeding season is not clear, but it seems like it is mostly in the summer or spring. The bird has a soothing 'zee, zee, zee' call.
Other voice variants include 'du-duu-duu duu', 'tsi-tsi-chay-chay', and 'zi-zi-zeerr-zeerr'. These birds are friendly and calm in nature, which makes them adorable to pet and watch. The willow tits are quite rare to find since their resident can be found in deep forests.
Birds are interesting and adorable to learn about. To know more about them, you can also check out great green macaw and night parrot facts.
Willow Tit Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a willow tit?
The willow tit is a type of bird, also known as a perching bird, among the tit family, Paridae.
What class of animal does a willow tit belong to?
The willow tit is a passerine bird that belongs to the Aves class of animal from the phylum Chordata.
How many willow tits are there in the world?
According to Birdlife International 2015, in Europe, the population estimation of willow tits is 30.5-44.2 million breeding pairs, which is equal to 61-88.4 million individual adults. The United Kingdom consists of a total of 35% of the global population, which is nearly 175-253 million mature individuals.
The population range in China is between 10,000-110,000 mating pairs, whereas, in Japan, it ranges from 100-100,000 mating pairs, and in Russia, there are 10,000-100,000 breeding pairs.
Where does a willow tit live?
The willow tit range includes temperate and subarctic Europe and northern Asia. It is a common breeder in these regions. It is mainly live in England and Wales. Only a small percentage is found in Scotland.
Other places include Norway, Russia, and Japan. The marsh tit looks similar to various tits. Therefore, for a long time, it was not identified as a breeding bird in the United Kingdom until the late 19th century, despite a widespread tit species and substituting the other species entirely in Scotland.
What is a willow tit's habitat?
The willow tit distribution of habitat includes willow thickets in damp places, such as wet woodland, marshes, gravel pits, and lowland peat bogs.
Who do willow tits live with?
During summer, these birds probably live alone or in pairs. However, in winter, many birds cannot manage to survive the harsh cold, especially juveniles. Therefore, they find flocks to overwinter. Some of them tend to become high-ranking members of the flock.
How long does a willow tit live?
The willow tit life expectancy is up to 11 years.
How do they reproduce?
There is not much information available regarding the reproduction of the willow tits. They dig their own nesting hole by piercing hardwood. The nest is usually built in a decayed projection or a tree.
It is a twisted type that is made of materials such as hair, fur, feathers, and wood chips. The clutch size varies from six to nine eggs, with red spots or patches. The juveniles survival rate is 0.58 for the first year, whereas the adult willow tits survival rate is 0.64.
What is their conservation status?
Willow tits have a broad range with a large number of populations in different parts of the world. Although the population trend is declining continuously, it does not affect the population as a whole.
Therefore, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) considers the willow tit species as the Least Concern. Alternatively, the population in England is dropped by 83% from 1995-2017.
In this period, there was also a contraction in the range. There are three main reasons behind it- loss of habitat, nest predation by other species, such as woodpecker, and competition for nest holes by the same members of the tits species like marsh tits or great tits.
Willow Tit Fun Facts
What do willow tits look like?
Willow tits (Poecile montanus) are paler than their cousin marsh tits, particularly in the east. However, in the west, it becomes arduous to recognize various types of tits as every subspecies look almost similar. The willow tits have a black head, white cheeks and necks, pale brown belly, gray wings, and tails with a shade of black.
How cute are they?
These birds are charming, with their small size and different colorations that they inhibit.
How do they communicate?
The tit (willow) communicates through vocalizations. They emit a common call of 'zee, zee, zee,' but notes of every bird are variable.
How big is a willow tit?
The willow tit size is 4.5 in (11.4 cm), which 10 times bigger than a honey bee. They are also similar to the great tits bird species.
How fast can a willow tit fly?
The speed of willow tit species is unknown.
How much does a willow tit weigh?
The average weight of willow tit (Poecile montanus) is 0.39 oz (11 g).
What are the male and female names of the species?
The male and female willow tits do not have specific names, separately.
What would you call a baby willow tit?
The young of this bird is generally known as a chick, hatchling, or nestling.
What do they eat?
The willow tit food includes various smaller insects, caterpillars, and seeds of plants.
Are they dangerous?
No, the tit (willow) is not a dangerous bird. They are friendly and do not pose any threats to other living beings.
Would they make a good pet?
There is no information regarding the domestication of tit willow.
Did you know...
Moorhen flea (Dasypsyllus gallinulae) is a common parasite of the willow tit.
Different types of tit birds and how they are different
There are 15 species of tits, which are distributed in North America, Europe, and Asia. All species look almost similar. The only slight difference is in their colors. Some of the species include blue tit, coal tit, marsh tit, giant tit, and Sichuan tit.
How do you tell a willow tit from a marsh tit?
The willow tit usually prefers wet woodland, conifer forest, and marshes, whereas the marsh tit lives in dry habitats and is often found in broadleaf woodland. Also, marsh tits have brown coloration, unlike the glossy blue-black cap on the willow tit.
The marsh tit is also a larger tit than the other. Alternatively, the willow's cheeks are larger than the marsh tit.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our rhinoceros hornbill facts and boreal chickadee facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our Willow Tit coloring pages.
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