Sofa birding

From family gatherings to eye-striped bandits, say hello to one of our most charismatic bird families…

I'm fortunate to have some great habitat right outside my window at home; it allows me to sit on the sofa and watch the goings-on of my neighbourhood birds. There's a cherry tree at the end of the patio, which is well connected to the hedge that separates our garden from the neighbouring garden and the apple tree that sits in the hedge. The ivy that covers a small stretch of fencing provides year round shelter for all manner of insects, although I often wonder how much survives the constant searching of hungry birds.

At this time of year, one of my favourite distractions is the sound of long-tailed tits arriving at the fat balls. They constantly call to each other 'this way, everyone, we're moving here now' as they flit through the branches. And, more often than not, with them come blue and great tits. You may have noticed this either where you live or whilst out on a walk - small parties of birds playing follow my leader through the trees as they search for food. There's good reason for this behaviour as not only is there safety in numbers but more pairs of eyes means more spying of food sources. If you're lucky, you might also catch coal tits, goldcrests and even chiffchaffs moving with the flock. At home, though, I'm just visited by the three most common members of the tit family.

Five long-tailed tits on a fat ball feeder in a garden by Wendy Carter

Long-tailed tits are sociable little creatures. In winter they travel in loose family parties, lollipop-shaped birds springing through hedgerows and trees in search of small invertebrates to eat; even in summer, adults that aren't raising families might go and help relatives to raise theirs. Listen for the constant churr and whistles as they move, as if calling for their companions to 'wait for me' or 'come this way'. During cold winter nights, they huddle together for warmth, the dominant birds in the middle and the subordinate ones at the edges.

Blue tit sitting in a cherry tree, the tree is just starting to bud. Sunlight is shining on the bird, which has a blue crown, white face with a black eye-stripe, yellowy chest and green and blue wings.

Blue tits are one of our most common birds. Whilst most of our birds are declining in numbers, populations of blue tits have risen slightly, probably due to the increase in people feeding birds in gardens. Most of you will be familiar with these acrobatic birds with black eye-stripes that make them every bit the bandits that once masterminded the theft of cream by breaking through milk bottle tops on doorsteps back in the 1980s (milk itself makes them ill but the cream at the top was too tempting to miss). The blue crown, which can also be raised as a temporary crest, of blue tits glows brightly to these small birds that can see in ultraviolet - it's thought the the brightest crown attracts the most mates.

A great tit singing in a tree - it has a black cap with white cheek, yellow breast with a thick black stripe running down the middle of it. The bird is sitting on a branch in a tree with no leaves, the sun is shining but it looks like winter.

On sunny winter days you may hear a squeaky wheelbarrow in your garden - the 'tea-cher tea-cher' call of a great tit. As we head into February, this becomes more common as great tits and other birds are thinking about finding a mate and creating a nest. If you only get a glance, separating blue tits from great tits can be quite tricky but great tits are bigger with a black head and white cheeks. Look for the dark line that runs down their yellowy chest and under their bellies to the tail; in males this is thick and unbroken whereas the stripes of females are thinner and shorter.

Great tits and blue tits are amongst the occupants of our rent-a-nest boxes situated in four of our nature reserves. If your garden already has bird boxes, or you don’t have a garden at all, and you'd like to help this acrobatic family of birds, why not consider renting a nest box and help to provide a home for some of our most charismatic feathered friends.