Coal Tit Hoarding

[shenk1]

Watched a Coal Tit this morning in the garden for about half a hour wizzing back and forth from the feeders.Every time it went to a feeder it picked up a good sized sunflower heart.
After making its choice it would then fly to a different part of the garden and proceed to hide it.It was brilliant.
In gaps in the wall,under roof slates,amongst tree roots,shoved into the lawn - absolutely everywhere.
In between all this it would chase off 2 more that were trying to enter ITS garden.
Never even realised they hoarded food until today (though should have guessed) and I've been grinning all day after being treated to such a sight
Just thought I'd share it with you.

A smiling shenk1

[FUDGEY]

They are rascals for it. I have a hide for photography purposes in a woodland and there must be at least 20 Coal Tits coming back and forward constantly from dawn until dusk taking the hearts. They go through 2kg every day with the hoarding activities. I love them though, cute wee birds.

[shenk1]

We thought it was the starlings taking all the food until we saw this one today.
It really made us laugh when in the middle of it all it still found time to protect its patch and chase the others off.

[Gatekeeper]

Coal Tits seem to do this in order to prevent the theft of their food by the larger tit species. The pair in my garden cram the sunflower seeds into the dried seed heads of Stagshorn

[actionfinch]

i have learnt something today with that. i have a coaltit that comes regularly to the sun hearts.. makes a couple of trips ( in between the blue tits coming and going) then goes off back to the same tree .Ill keep a closer eye on him now....

[RKB]

Originally Posted by Gatekeeper

Coal Tits seem to do this in order to prevent the theft of their food by the larger tit species. The pair in my garden cram the sunflower seeds into the dried seed heads of Stagshorn

It's becasue they are, evolutionary speaking, a species of northern origin. Willow and Marsh Tits are the same, as are the American Chickadees. They hoard food because in their ancestral boreal forests food would come in a glut (pine, birch and spruce seeds etc) and they would need to store them in order to survive the harsh winters. The behaviour gives them the edge over more southern-origin species (such as Blue and Great Tit), and that is why the most common birds of the northern taiga and boreal forests are Coal Tits and Willow Tits in Eurasia and Chickadees in the Americas. They don't actually need to do it as much in Britain, especially when they have a bird table handy, but it is hard-wired into their brains. They have amazing spatial memories, and have been used in many studies of memory development. The bit of their brain that stores spatial memory is very enlarged, whereas Blue Tits don't have this. Although you will sometimes see a Blue or Great Tit follow the Coal around and steal the store, or come across it by accident. This is called kleptoparasitism, and this dominance and flexibility is what gives Blue Tits the edge on more southern forests such as Britain.