Funny tit birds are habitual inhabitants of the middle zone of Eurasia. The yellow breast makes these birds very recognizable, and gardeners and farmers favor them, as they actively eat insect pests. Clever and wary, tits rarely become prey to predators, although they are often hunted even by cats who like these gentle birds.
Interesting facts about tits
- The great tit, with a yellow breast, lives in various parts of the world, even in northern Africa.
- During the nesting period, the female of this bird is able to lay up to 10-12 eggs (interesting facts about birds).
- There are about 65 different species of tits in the world.
- They got their name from – for its characteristic chirping, which, if you listen, sounds like «si-hsin-si».
- These birds are surprisingly voracious. They usually hunt all day long, even when they are already full. Surplus prey they hide in the nest to eat them later.
- Tits eat almost any insect, even those that other birds usually do not eat.
- They are capable of making about 40 different sounds.
- Tits willingly settle next to a person, but in nature, far away away from civilization, they prefer oak groves. In old oaks, there are often hollows and voids in which they build nests.
- The body weight of an adult tit rarely exceeds 20 grams, and its length is 15 centimeters. In general, they are comparable in size to ordinary sparrows (interesting facts about sparrows).
- To this day, the decree of King Louis of Bavaria, dated from the 14th century, has been preserved, in which tits are called useful birds, and hunting for them is prohibited.
- Tits are tameable and are not too afraid of people. With some patience, you can even feed wild birds from your hand in the park.
- In most cases, tits form pairs for life.
- During the warm season, they lay eggs twice, not once, like most other birds.
- In winter, closer to the onset of frost, tits often move to cities, as it is warmer there and it is easier to survive the winter.
- Little tits destroy more pests than almost all other birds, so in rural areas for them they often hang up feeders to lure such useful neighbors.
- Tits nests are often ruined by woodpeckers and squirrels (interesting facts about squirrels).
- Only one species of tits is able to make its own nest by plucking out rotten wood in a tree trunk. The rest use ready-made hollows and other shelters, natural or made by human hands.
- Those who like to feed the birds should know that they should not be given black bread. It contains a lot of yeast that can kill them.
- During the incubation of eggs, the female tit usually does not leave the nest. The male feeds her at this time.
- Tits usually do not stock up for the winter, but they are great at finding and destroying other people’s storage facilities made by other birds and small animals.
- They have an excellent memory, and remember places where they managed to find a lot of food in order to return to them later.
- Despite the fact that tits fly very quickly, they rarely flap their wings, and they spend less energy on flight than most other birds. In this regard, they are far from hummingbirds, which flap their wings at such a speed that it is impossible to keep track of them (interesting facts about hummingbirds).
- Tits do not drink dirty water. Even in cities they don’t drink from puddles.
- In nature, they usually live 2-3 years due to a difficult life, and in captivity they can live up to 15 years.
- Some species of tits prey on small bats. They do not eat meat, but peck out the brain of their prey.
- On average, in summer, an adult tit eats 300-400 insects per day, mostly caterpillars.
- In the UK, there have been more than once recorded cases when tits pecked through the foil on bottles of milk that local milkmen leave at the door of houses. They do not drink milk, but they willingly feast on cream floating on its surface.