Question about Tits

[Tokka]

Out in my garden today, i photographed some tits, (pictures below) after i went in, i tried to find references to what birds they are?

My conclusion is one is a great tit, the other a long tailed tit?

Now for my question: i presume a blue tit is simuler to the great tit but the white marking goes above the eye?
What difference has a great tit with a coal tit?
and between all of them how do you Know male from female?

I am all new to this, (so dumb is my middle name) but i know your all kind and willing to help a novice.

Thanks, George

[Jason Claxton]

Well matched Tits,they are indeed the Great Tit and the Long-tailed Tit .

The Coal Tit is smaller than the Great Tit ,with a white patch on the nape(the back of the head)and no stripe down the breast.Adult Great Tits have a central stripe down the breast,this being much thicker in males,but beware juvenile Great Tits don't show much of this stripe at all.


Cheers Jason.

[Tokka]

Thanks Jason,

Was i right about a blue tit having a white patch above the eye, or are blue tits generally smaller, or bluer.

[Jason Claxton]

Yes Tokka ,the white stripe above the eye and around the head is a fine way of telling a Blue Tit from a Great Tit,a useful shortcut that.
You may also see Coal Tits, as they often visit garden feeders.

Jason

[astarsdad]

My way of identifying a blue tit is to observe its blue 'cap' on top of its head. Coal tits are similar in size to the blue tit so if I see a small great tit , I identify it as coal tit (it has a white 'v' on the back of its neck),

[RKB]

Originally Posted by astarsdad

Coal tits are similar in size to the blue tit

They're actually much smaller.

With all tits, look at the head pattern. A quick look online will soon show the difference in head pattern between Great and Blue Tits. Coal Tits are a bit like mini Great Tits but with a white stripe up the back of the head and with no blue anywhere.

Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed Tits are now classified in totally different families, as they're quite different from each other really.

To tell male from female, as already said use the thickness of the dark belly band on Great Tits. Blue and Coal Tits can also be sexed, but it's tricky and probably a bit much for this thread.

[John]

Great Tits are about 20% larger at 14cm than both the Blue & Coal Tit, which are both 11cm. Below are some photos I have taken of these birds. The first two are of a Blue Tit and the second is a Coal Tit. As you can see there is no confusion over these species and are easily identifiable with each other.

Blue Tit


Coat Tit


John

[RKB]

Weights are possibly more helpful as an indicator of size (bulk) than length, as they have differing proportions. Blue Tits are about 20% heavier than Coal Tits, and Great Tits are almost double the weight of Coal Tits.

[Elizabeth B]

The BTO site is very useful for this sort of information: BTO - Birds of Britain

For instance:

coal tit Length: 12 cm Wingspan: 19 cm Weight: M/F: 9 g

blue tit Length: 12 cm Wingspan: 18 cm Weight: M/F: 11 g

[John]

I'm sorry if I come over confrontational but this is a beginner we are advising so how on earth do weights come into it. How do they determine weights? What kind of advice is that? Are they going to catch the bird, bag it then weigh it? I think not.

When confronted with a beginner it is back to basics that they can handle and photos are usually better than most ways to advise.

Please tell me how you can mistake a Coal tit with A Blue Tit or a Great Tit once you have studied photos. Weight doesn't come into it.

John