The Tit Family

The weather has not been that good the last couple of days and although we have been out and about Birdwatching, i have not posted much. So here are some members of the Tit family. First we have the Longtailed Tit. (Aegithalos caudatus) With their long tails they are very distinctive and are often seen in small flocks. I often get them in my garden, but they flit about so quickly they are hard to get photos of.
This is the Coal Tit.(Parus ater) He is the smallest and is often bullied by his larger relatives.They are very common in the Forest.
The Marsh Tit (Parus palustris) is distinguished from the coal tit by as he does not have the white nape patch or the flashes on his wings. The Marsh tit is very similar to the willow tit , but they are not as common.
Next we have the Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) he is a very common garden bird With his blue head he is easily distinguished from the bigger Great Tit.
Finally we have the Great Tit, (Parus major) he is the largest of the Tits and is about 14cm in height. Great Tits nested in our bird box last year and I am hoping they will do so again this year They are already inspecting it.

We have one other Tit in the British Isles, the crested Tit but they are mostly found in the Scottish Highlands. The Bearded Tit was once thought to be a member of the same family but it is now thought to be more closely related to the babblers of tropical Africa and Asia.