..Blue Tit..
The little Blue tit always tops the favourite bird list especially since they are happy to use nesting boxes in our gardens and parks. They are one of our top 20 garden birds. They will visit peanut feeders but also love sunflower hearts. Of course they don't just eat the food we provide and can be seen nibbling away at buds in Spring. They will also happily snack on spiders, butterflies and whatever other insects they can find. I seen one catch a Holly Blue butterfly in flight for instance.
Outside of breeding season Bluetits are not particularly territorial and you will often see several together. However once nesting starts they guard their patch and you may have seen a Blue Tit furiously fighting with himself in a mirror or window.
She only lays one clutch of eggs per season and invests all her efforts in raising this one little family.
Below are images of a juvenile Blue Tit now finding its own way in the world.
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| This young Blue Tit has yet to develop its blue crown |
The female can lay up to 8 eggs and once the young hatch the parents fly back and forth feeding their hungry offspring with caterpillars and insects.
The young fledge at about 3 weeks old and since their wings are poorly developed they often stay under cover and are fed by their parents. They won't develop their blue crowns till autumn.
It is said that the vibrancy of the yellow on the Blue Tits belly depends on the amount of caterpillars it eats. The males and females are almost identical but it is thought that the males crown is a more intense blue colour.
