Blue tit, building your nest already?

[HanDiiMaNz]

For a few days now i've seen this little blue tit coming back and forth to the nest box with various nesting materials but I can't help but notice that, isn't this a little bit early for them to start building nests? Isn't around March that they start?

And I am unsure whether both male and female build the nest together but, at the moment there's only one blue tit going back and forth.

Thanks.

[rossy]

the blue tit will be roosting in your box and bringing in items to make it cosy to keep warm, on bbc 2 last night snow watch showed wrens going in house martin nests and recorded no fewer than 67 in which they said was a record, also they highlighted blue tits and 16 and 17 had been reported roosting together this can only be good as they will keep warm in severe weather like we have been having. they also said up to 80% can die but that is one of the reasons they lay big clutches of eggs . hope that sheds some light for you regards rossy.

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by rossy

... on bbc 2 last night snow watch showed wrens going in house martin nests and recorded no fewer than 67 in which they said was a record, also they highlighted blue tits and 16 and 17 had been reported roosting together this can only be good as they will keep warm in severe weather like we have been having. ...

.... lots of warm down filled duvets snuggled up together, very sensible ...

[Angelika]

I saw a sparrow today with nest material today me and my friend were shocked,isn't it a bit early?

[Monkey Orchid]

I saw a pair of great tits going in and out of our nesting box over the Christmas period, and assumed that they were roosting rather than preparing to breed. I'm guessing that with the severe weather conditions, snug roosting sites are at a premium for birds right now!

[kezzer]

our blue tits are roosting in the two nesting boxes at the end of our garden, they have been in and out frequently for the past few weeks.

[mightyminx49]

Hi all,

I began to wonder about the birds looking in my garden for bits and pieces which would line a nest. After reading the views on here I understand why. I wonder if we should be putting nesting type stuff out as well as plenty of food. I hate to think that 80% of birds will die of the unusually cold weather we're having.

This type of weather reminds me of my childhood and what we did for the birds then. I remember my mum putting scraps in the garden for the birds and my siblings and I would watch them flock in droves to our garden. I was not really interested in the different types of birds then but am facinated by the different types now. I had never in my life saw a robin until just before Christmas 2009. I also got my first sight of a Bullfinch in the new year. I have not managed to upload any of the photo's I took. I never in my wildest dream thought we had such colourful British birds and never ever thought to see a Bullfinch in the North East. AMAZING!!

[rossy]

hello mightyminx49 the 80% was refering to the blue tit population not all birds sorry i should have made that a little clearer, anyway your right about the bullfinch the male is one colourful bird to look at will look forward to your photos rossy.

[RKB]

70-80% of Blue Tits die every year, that's their natural mortality rate (for most garden birds this is well over 50%). That's why Blue Tits have 6-16 young per year. If a pair fledges 15 young, then that's 17 birds when there were only two at the beginning of the year. So 15 have to die for the population to remain stable. They feed the Sparrowhawks!

Did they show film of "16-17" Blue Tits actually roosting together? Tits have never been recorded roosting communally together before.

[rossy]

hello rkb no they didnt shoe the tits roosting but did show footage of the wrens going in to roost. they said 60% was the norm mortality rate for tits but expect it to be much higher this winter. rossy.