Great tit - description, habitat, interesting facts. Great tit, or grasshopper (Parus major) How many tits live

, reptiles (reptiles), birds, their nests, eggs and voices, and mammals (animals) and traces of their vital activity,
20 colored laminated identification tables , including: aquatic invertebrates, diurnal butterflies, fish, amphibians and reptiles, wintering birds, migratory birds, mammals and their footprints,
4 pocket field determinant , including: inhabitants of reservoirs, birds of the middle lane and animals and their tracks, as well
65 methodical benefits and 40 educational methodological films by methods carrying out research work in nature (in the field).

In the non-commercial online store of the Ecological Center "Ecosystem" you can to acquire following teaching materials on ornithology:
computer (electronic) guide to birds of central Russia, containing descriptions and images of 212 bird species (drawings of birds, silhouettes, nests, eggs and voices), as well as computer program determination of birds encountered in nature,

Great tit has adapted perfectly to the landscape created by man. This nimble bird can often be seen near buildings, in gardens and city parks, and people everywhere welcome it as a loyal ally in the fight against insect pests.
Habitat. It lives in Europe, Asia and North Africa.

Habitat.
The great tit lives in Europe, Asia and northern Africa. The southern border of its range runs through North Africa, Israel, Iran and Ceylon, and in the north it reaches the polar tundra. This bird can be found in the vastness of Eurasia from the shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Some titmice live sedentary, and birds nesting in the north migrate for the winter to regions with a milder climate.

Species: Great tit - Parus major.
Family: Titmice.
Order: Passerines.
Class: Birds.
Subtype: Vertebrates.

Did you know?
Great tit is the largest of all European tits.
During the day, the body temperature of the tit is 42 ° C, and at night it drops to 39 ° C. The heart of this bird beats at a frequency of 500 beats per minute, and with strong arousal, the frequency of contractions increases to 1000 beats per minute.
A titmouse eats more feed per day than it weighs itself. A pair of tits, feeding nine chicks, daily delivers about 1800 insects and larvae to their offspring. During their entire stay in the nest, chicks eat about 15,000 insects and caterpillars.
On an area of \u200b\u200b10 hectares, great tits can kill 150,000 insects and caterpillars.
Great tits are surprisingly brave, agile and quick-witted. In some places they are so accustomed to the presence of people that they take food directly from their hands.
Sharp beak serves as a titmouse as a multi-purpose tool. The bird gouges them hollows, breaks the hard shells of nuts and seeds and picks out the larvae from under the bark. The beak grows continuously as it wears down.

Security.
In many countries, the great tit, like its other relatives, is under protection, although its population is very numerous and the bird is not threatened with extinction. Having long appreciated the enormous merits of these birds in the fight against dangerous pests of crops and forests, people feed them in the winter, and in the spring they hang nest boxes that quickly find owners. Tits living in cities often break on transparent showcases or glazed walls of high-rise buildings, so it is recommended to stick images on such surfaces birds of prey, which scare away all feathered trifles from dangerous obstacles.

Lifestyle.
In the nesting season, the male great tit occupies a home area and defends its borders from other relatives, but in autumn and winter these sociable birds gather in flocks, often uniting with other species of tits. Life in a flock helps to notice danger in time and find food. The composition of such a flock is constantly changing: some birds fly away, others nailed to the group. Tits are very vociferous and communicate with each other with a rich set of whistles and trills. At the end of winter, tit flocks begin to disintegrate. Males claim their rights to certain areas, and a little later females also start wandering, seeking to find a partner. The diet of tits is very diverse: in spring and summer they feed on all kinds of insects and their larvae, and in winter they feed on larvae and spiders hidden under the bark. They eat plant seeds, beech and hazelnuts, ash, maple, euonymus, yew and hawthorn seeds with no less appetite. In autumn, tits often feast on the pulp and seeds of overripe fruits, and in the snowy winter, noisy flocks flock to the feeding troughs. In search of prey, these restless birds briskly run along the branches, often even upside down. Their natural enemies include small feathered predators, weasels, ferrets and martens, and squirrels and crows often destroy their nests.

Reproduction.
In the spring, the male titmouse first of all occupies a home area and immediately notifies rivals and neighbors about this with sonorous trills, which at the same time attract females. Noticing a possible partner, the male, for greater importance, puffs up his shirt-front and begins to flutter nervously around the chosen one. If the female likes the cavalier, she crouches on a branch, spreading her wings and beak, and requires a treat, and the male tries to feed her (perhaps in this way the female checks whether the future husband will be able to feed the chicks). Then the male shows his friend the place he has chosen for the nest, which can become a tree hollow or a titmouse, and if the female likes it, the couple proceeds to build a nest from thin twigs lined with dry grass, moss, feathers and scraps of wool. In April, the female lays 6-12 white eggs with reddish specks and incubates the clutch for 10-14 days, feeding on the offerings of the male. Chicks hatch blind and naked. After 2-3 weeks, they fly out of the nest, but the parents feed them for about a week. As a rule, tits make one brood per year. Sometimes the couple manages to make another brood, and then one male feeds the older chicks. In winter, juveniles join the flocks of titmouse. Great tits reach sexual maturity at 10 months of age and hatch their offspring next spring.

Great tit - Parus major.
Length: 14 cm.
Wingspan: 22-25 cm.
Weight: 15-20 g.
Number of eggs in a clutch: 6-12.
Incubation period: 10-14 days.
Puberty: 10 months.
Food: insects, fruits, seeds.
Life expectancy: up to 15 years.

Structure.
Beak. The beak is short, conical.
Head. The upper side of the head is covered with a cap of black shiny feathers.
Body. The physique is quite solid.
Cheeks. The cheeks are white.
Mirror. There are white stripes on the wings, the so-called. mirrors.
Plumage. The dorsal side is yellowish-green, the abdomen is bright yellow. The wings, tail and tailbone are bluish-gray.
Tie. A wide black tie-like stripe stretches along the chest and abdomen.
Fingers. Four short fingers are equipped with sharp and tenacious claws.
Legs. Thin legs are devoid of plumage.

Related species.
The tit family unites about 65 bird species inhabiting Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. All of them are small birds leading a sedentary lifestyle, and only species nesting in the far north migrate to warmer regions for the winter. These birds live mainly in forests, although many species have successfully adapted to life in the city. The main food for tits is insects and seeds.

The great tit is a very familiar bird for the inhabitants of Eurasia and parts of Africa. On the territory of Russia, it lives in the Caucasus, Siberia and the Amur region. Great tit nests in deciduous plantations, next to water bodies, while it is never found in a coniferous forest. The bird is so unpretentious that it can be found both in the forest belt, on the plains, in parks, as well as in cities. The bird is drawn to people due to lack of food. Only 20% of birds survive the winter.

How to recognize a tit

The average size of a big tit is 15 centimeters. The bird weighs about 20 grams. She can spread her wings by an average of 23 centimeters. The great tit is very beautiful. There is a black stripe on her chest, like a tie, which divides the abdomen into two lemon-colored halves. The back is shimmery with olive color, while the wings and tail are gray. The natural outfit is complemented by a black beret on the top of the head, which is in good harmony with the white cheeks of the bird.

Males differ from females in a brighter outfit. Tits have a large head with a straight beak and a long tail. The plumage is soft and pleasant to the touch. The bird has strong legs with tenacious, rounded claws.

Why do many people know the tit

Tit not migrant... However, she gets closer to people when she has nothing to eat. As soon as the sun begins to warm up in February, the sonorous singing of a bird is heard from the street. Light sounding, reminds city dwellers of the approaching spring. Observing how the bird moves in the air, it remains only to admire how competently it acts with its body. The wingspan allows you to wave them a couple of times to soar up, then it falls down like a stone, while spending a minimum of its energy.

From the life of a tit

The Great Tit sings its songs incomparably. Her sonorous voice is heard when you walk through the forest thicket. The titmouse reaches its target in small jumps; these are very nimble and mobile birds. More often a tit nest can be found in a hollow of a tree. Tits hibernate in small flocks to warm each other in severe frosts.

Poultry diet

The bird's favorite treat is insects. different types... She loves bugs, caterpillars and does not disdain flies. The bird is in constant search of food. People feed the birds with pieces of bacon, spreading it on the windowsill of the apartment. The titmouse benefits from the destruction of harmful insects.

Unlike other birds, the titmouse does not store for the winter, from which it suffers in winter, however, the bird loves to feast on the supplies of others.

It all begins in early spring when the birds form into married couples. After that, the arrangement of the nest begins. For their children, they choose a hollow in a tree at a height of up to 5 meters. The nest is covered with feathers, animal hair and moss. From April to June, the female has a serious period for hatching chicks. The female lays eggs twice, one brood can reach up to 12 eggs.

The eggs of the titmouse are white with red or brown spots. While the female is hatching chicks (the period lasts about two weeks), the head of the family provides her food. At the same time, married couples strictly divide their territory in order to provide decent food for their offspring. During this period, birds can be aggressive and fight for food even with their relatives. The area for finding food usually reaches 50 meters.

After the chicks hatched, the first three days, the bird gives all its motherly warmth to the children. At this time, the male is a food provider, both for his girlfriend and for the chicks that have appeared. The chicks feed consists of caterpillars no more than 1 centimeter in size. One chick during the day can eat insects weighing up to 7 grams. After three days, the female joins the male, and they raise the cubs for about 20 more days.

After the kids leave the nest for the first time, flying lessons begin. Once the chick has learned to fly (this takes about a week), the parents can continue to take care of their children and even feed them. The second brood will be smaller than the first. After the birds have matured, they flock into flocks. Birds are grouped in the amount of 40-50 individuals. Representatives of other species, such as landslides, can often be seen in the flock.

After 10 months, the chicks turn into sexually mature individuals.

Raising a bird in captivity

Tit in captivity are raised for their beautiful singing. The bird is easy to feed, so keeping it has its advantages. The singing of a bird in the spring is very beautiful, because at this moment the male calls the female. Tits teach canary singing, for which oatmeal is very much appreciated. If the bird is well looked after, then the titmouse easily gets used to captivity.

The titmouse is a very curious and cocky person. And her predatory disposition can harm smaller birds. The bird can even crush the smaller bird if they are in the same cage. To prevent such embarrassment from happening, the titmouse should be settled with larger birds, for example, a thrush, nuthatch or woodpecker.

Great tit in captivity can be fed with soft food. For example, you can rub carrots, finish soft cottage cheese and soaked rusks there. You can also feed it with minced meat or chopped fish, grated chicken egg... Dried insects and ant eggs are added to the feed. A treat for the tit is mealworms, which should preferably be given every week. The bird's diet may also include hemp, sunflower seeds and pine nuts. Grain complementary foods can consist of cedar seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, but at the same time, everything is finely chopped and served in a separate cup.

The bird loves water very much, but uses it not only for drinking, but also for bathing. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare two bowls, one with drinking water, the second for swimming. A bowl for "water treatments" should not be deep and small.

In order for the bird to breed outside the wild, it is necessary to provide them with a separate room.

The body temperature of the blue bream fluctuates depending on the time of day, during the day it reaches 42 degrees, by the evening it can drop to 39.
The heart rate can range from 500 to 1000 beats per second, depending on arousal.
The bird can eat insects more than its weight. When feeding their chicks, they eat up to 1,800 insects daily.
The titmouse is so active and curious that it can be hand-fed.
A titmouse's beak can grow back as it wears out. After all, it is with its beak that a bird can hatch a hollow, chop nuts and get the necessary insect from under the bark.

How many tits live

Great tit in wildlife can live 1-3 years, with good care in captivity up to 15 years. In the cold season, a lot of individuals die due to lack of food. It is in the power of every person to help the bird survive in severe frosts. After all, a titmouse helps a person get rid of pests. For example, during the period of feeding the chicks, tits can save about 40 trees and shrubs from pests. Great tit is a good orderly of the forest, park, garden. After all, she can get under the bark of a tree in search of a harmful insect, where even a woodpecker with his skill cannot get.
Protect the environment!

Video: great tit (Parus major)

SQUARE OF PASSENGERS (Passeriformes)
FAMILY BLUE (Paridae)

Every bird lover knows this yellow-chested, energetic bird the size of a sparrow. At first glance, all great tits seem to be the same, but if you look closely, you will notice that some have a thinner black stripe on the chest and abdomen than others. They are females. A rich black, widening stripe on the abdomen is a distinctive feature of males. In summer, young birds can also be identified by color. Their plumage is generally dimmer, which is especially noticeable on yellowish cheeks.

Habitat

It inhabits various forest stands, occurs in all settlements. The titmouse can be seen especially often in autumn and winter.

Migrations

Most of the forest birds in the cold season move to settlements.

Reproduction

With the lengthening of daylight hours, already in January, males try to sing, delighting us in the silent winter with a simple, but ringing song: "tsi-tsi-ding, tsi-tsi-ding." The big tit is a typical hollow nest. Occupies natural hollows and crevices in tree trunks, hollows created by woodpeckers, as well as titmouses, birdhouses, nest boxes. In the absence of the necessary shelters, tits are able to hollow out a hollow in a rotten trunk on their own. In settlements, birds make nests in the voids of reinforced concrete pillars, as well as in vertical iron pipes - fence supports.

The first clutch, consisting of 6–19 (usually 9–12) white eggs with red specks, is formed in April – May. Incubation takes 12-14 days. Only the female incubates the clutch, moreover, if you look into the titmouse, lifting the removable roof, the bird begins to hiss, makes false throws, but does not leave eggs and even more so chicks. Hatching of chicks lasts three to five days. They fly out on the 16-17th day.

During the summer, a couple has two broods. This fertility partly explains the high abundance of birds. At the same time, this is a necessary measure, since, according to statistics, only one out of ten tits survive until spring. The nests in the hollows are often ruined by the turtleneck, in order to occupy the housing of the tits afterwards. Ermine, weasel, or red forest ants can also reach chicks or eggs.

Nutrition

In the spring and summer, tits feed mainly on invertebrates. Beginning in autumn, the share of plant feeds increases greatly: all kinds of seeds, cereal grains. The big tit is a regular visitor to the feeders. In addition to seeds and nuts, she willingly pecks on unsalted bacon or fat. She does not make supplies, like some other tits, but often plunders other people's caches. Cases of attacks of great tits on smaller weakened birds are known.

Scientific classification
Great tit
Great tit. Rtishchevo, city park
Kingdom:	Animals
A type:	Chordates
Class:
Detachment:	Sparrow
Family:	Titmouse
Genus:
View:	Great tit
International scientific name
Parus major Linnaeus, 1758
View in taxonomic databases

Great tit (lat. Parus major) is the largest and most numerous of all species of the tit family found in Russia.

Description

A lively mobile bird, the largest of our tits; body length 140 mm, wing 72-77 mm, tail about 65-67 mm, metatarsus about 20-23 mm. In adult birds, the upper side of the head (“cap”), throat, sides of the neck, and craw are brilliantly black with a blue metallic sheen; frenulum, cheeks and ear coverts pure white, whitish-yellow spot on back of neck; the back is yellowish-green, turning into bluish-gray on the lower back and in the upper tail; wing coverts of the same grayish color; the whitish apices of the large wing coverts form a whitish stripe across the wing; flight feathers are dark brown with white tops of outer webs of primary flight feathers (except for the first and second) and with a whitish border at the base of inner webs of the same feathers; the main halves of the external primary flight feathers are grayish; secondary flight feathers with wide light edges of outer webs; middle tail feathers are bluish-gray, others are blackish with bluish-gray edges of outer webs; on the extreme pair, the outer fan is white, on the inner one there is an apical white spot; a small white or whitish spot at the apex of the tail pair, second from the edge; the underparts are yellow, with a black matt spot on the chest and belly, with whitish underwings, the undertail is also whitish, with an admixture of blackish-brown streaks. The legs are dark gray, the beak is black, the iris is dark brown.

The female is similar to the male, but the black stripe on the belly is narrower, and the yellow color is less bright. Juveniles with a dark grayish-brown head and throat, yellowish cheeks, grayish sides, with a general dull color tone.

It differs from other tits in its large size.

Voice and singing

Great tit. Rtishchevo city center

The voice is a resounding "pin-pin-cheerzhzh". The song - loud whistles "chi-pi-chi-chi-chi-pi-in-cha-in-cha." Singing of the great tit can be heard at any time of the year, except in late autumn and early winter. The possible singing period is over 9 months. Spring singing begins in early January, sometimes even at the end of December. As a rule, birds wintering near human habitation are the first to start singing. Intense chanting starts in March and lasts until the second half of May. In the second half of June - early July, a new rise in singing activity is observed, associated with the second breeding cycle. Autumn singing begins in August, intensifies in mid-September, and stops in the first decade of October. The song of the great tit is subject to strong individual variation. Up to 40 of its variants can be distinguished by ear. One bird can alternately use 3-5 options, differing in rhythm, relative pitch of sounds, timbre and number of syllables. Most often there are two- and three-syllable songs. In the great tit, not only males can sing, but also females, which more often publish a song while feeding chicks and driving a brood.

In addition to demonstrative singing, the "sub-song" is also characteristic of the great tit, which has a very peculiar sound. In some way it resembles a "purr". The song is most often heard in February and March, but it was also celebrated in January, April, June and September. The sub-song is quite euphonious and is a mixture of quiet chirping and the syllables of a demonstrative song performed "under the mute". At the same time, the birds (in the observed cases, these were males) sit in the crowns of trees, often in motionless positions. The duration of the song is from 0.5 to 10 minutes. There is also a group performance of a sub-song, when 3-4 males sit on adjacent branches and sing simultaneously. Borrowed sounds are sometimes included in the sub-song: for example, fragments of the song of the yellow-headed king and the gurgling sounds of powder. For some tits, voice imitation is common. Individuals who have learned to copy any signal constantly keep it in their repertoire. Typically (but not always), great tits use borrowed signals in the presence of the species they imitate.

The great tit, imitating the specific calling cry of other bird species, never uses it to express demonstrative anxiety. For this, it uses only its species signal.

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