What to feed a baby tufted titmouse

Titmouse: description, species, habitat, food, enemies, lifestyle

Author Admin To read 20 min Views 4.6k. Published 04/05/2021

The tit is a representative of the "tit" family, belonging to the "passerine" order. They are considered the largest representatives of the detachment and one of the most common. Previously, many species of birds were classified as representatives of this family, but modern ornithologists have expanded the classification and began to attribute them to other species. nine0005

Content

1. General characteristic
2. Where tits live in the wild
3. Types of tits
4. Big tits
5. The suspended tit
6. mustache
7. Carts
8. Mosko
9. Lazorevka
10. Lazorevka
11. Lazorevka
12. Lazorevka
13. Lazorevka
14. Lazorevka
16. Way of life and behavior
17. Social structure
18. House of the tit
19. Character and habits of the tit
20. Interaction with people
21. Propagation and growing offspring
22. Cubs for cubs
23. Natural enemies of tits
24. Frequently asked questions

TOMENTIONS, consisting in the BREADICAL -shaped contract, usually distinguished by large -shaped needles. The chest area is quite light compared to other plumage, usually it is yellow, beige or gray. The beak is short and sharp, there is a cap and crest on the head. nine0005

The size of tits varies from 13 to 17 cm and weighs from 15 to 22 g. This results in a small wingspan of about 24 cm. Colour. At the same time, there is a black stripe in the abdomen. The cheeks are usually white, which stands out against the black background. Plumage color varies by variety.

Titmouse are considered to be very common birds found all over the world. The habitat of birds is extremely wide:

• Africa.
• Asia.
• Europe.
• America.

A significant part of the bird population lives in Asia. More than a dozen species of tits can be found on the territory of Russia and Ukraine.

These birds choose open areas for life. They build their nests in clearings, forest edges, regardless of the type of forest. However, mixed, deciduous forests are becoming the preferred area for life. The habitat depends on the specific species. So, for example, birds living in Europe prefer oak forests for life, and Siberian tits live next to people on the outskirts of the taiga. nine0005

At the same time, dark forests are not suitable for building nests for tits. Birds love the forest-steppe area, in which natural reservoirs are located nearby: rivers and lakes. In addition, sometimes tits are found in the mountains, for example, in the Alps.

Ask a question

How long do tits live on average?

Titmouse are well able to adapt to environmental conditions, regardless of whether they live in captivity or in freedom. Under natural conditions, the life expectancy of birds is only three years - this is the maximum that they can count on. Such a short period is due to dangers, diseases and lack of food that await birds in their natural habitat. But at home, the life expectancy of tits increases to 10-15 years. nine0005

There are many varieties of tits found on different continents. Among them, the most common are considered.

This bird is ubiquitous on the territory of Russia and is otherwise called big or grasshopper. The back of the great tit is light green in color interspersed with yellow, the abdominal area is completely yellow. A characteristic feature of the bird is a black stripe passing near the belly and next to the chest. The top of the head, the throat is black, which acquires a blue sheen in the sun. The sides of the head are white. The wings of the great tit are gray, sometimes with an admixture of a blue tint, the long tail is black. nine0005

This is one of the smallest bird species, with a wing length of about 50 mm. The body of the bird is yellow-gray with an admixture of green hues. However, in general, its appearance is rather unremarkable. The tit is commonly found in the southwestern and southern regions of Africa.

This species got its name from males that have a white throat and a black "beard" that contrasts with it. Its color is quite attractive, light brown in which yellow shades are observed. The head of the bird is gray with a blue tint. A characteristic feature of the appearance of males is the presence of white in the region of the tail feathers. nine0005

Females do not have a characteristic "beard", its appearance is beige with an admixture of brown. The tail feathers are rather milky, and sometimes beige.

Such a bird is also called the Grenadier. Its characteristic feature is a crest, which is noticeable even at a great distance. The bird got its name just because of this crest. The area of ​​the back of the crested tit is gray-brown. The crest itself has small black and white spots, the throat and necks are covered with black spots. The belly is white with a yellowish tinge. nine0005

This is one of the most remarkable representatives of the species, which has a colorful, interesting color that distinguishes it from others. This is a fairly small bird, the size of which does not exceed 12 cm. The beak and tail of the blue tit are just as small, the proportions correspond to its body. The color of the tit is blue with yellow. Her back has a greenish tint, which varies depending on the habitat. The belly of the blue tit is light green, with a yellow tint. There is a “cap” on the head, and two bluish stripes are located on the sides of the beak. nine0005

This bird is also called the black or little tit. In appearance, it is similar to the highway, but much smaller in size. She also has a black “cap”, white spots are located in the cheek area, and the back itself is gray-blue. The area of ​​the belly and chest is light gray, there is a red tint.

Whiskered Tit

3

Great Tit

1

Blue Tit

1

Suspended Tit

Crested Tit

Moskovka

Titmouse belong to the insectivorous group and, despite their small size, they effectively deal with a large number of pests. Birds are engaged in cleaning gardens, parks, gardens, forests, while their diet directly depends on the season.

In winter, due to the lack of insects, tits have to eat mainly plant foods. nine0005

When the tits are unable to get food on their own, the birds try to nestle closer to people. In winter, they are often fed with white bread, sunflower seeds, and even raw lard. In the absence of feeders, birds have to look for food in trash and landfills.

In the warm season, the diet of tits is significantly expanded and supplemented with familiar elements:

• Dragonflies.
• Bed bugs.
• Maybugs. nine0012
• Ants.
• Flies.
• Osami.
• Leaf beetles.

Plant food is also present, but as a supplement. Tits feed mainly on needles, berries, lilacs, burdocks, mountain ash, blueberries, and rosehip seeds.

Some varieties of tits can hunt larger prey. So, for example, birds are able to catch and eat small bats, especially at a time when they are most vulnerable after a period of hibernation. nine0005

A notable feature of tits is their ability to prey on invertebrate insects that live in the bark of trees. Tits hang upside down, clinging to branches, which helps them quickly reach a hiding target. Not only adults, but also larvae of small invertebrates become prey. During the day of such a hunt, a titmouse can eat more than six hundred insects. Sometimes the mass of such prey is equal to the bird's own weight.

Titmouse are often called forest orderlies, as they prey on many harmful insects: cockroaches, ticks, centipedes, etc. They can even eat bees, provided that the stinger is removed. Tits feed their offspring mainly with butterfly caterpillars no larger than 1 cm in size.

Great tits are different from their relatives because they do not store food for the winter. Most tits, such as blue tit and Muscovy, pre-store food so as not to remain hungry in conditions of food shortage.

Tits are considered to be extremely active birds that never sit still and are constantly on the move. They are usually attached to a certain place and rarely leave it. This is due to the fact that tits are not very good at flying: birds do not have great endurance and are not able to fly far. nine0005

At the same time, the lack of great physical strength does not interfere with the life of tits. It is enough for them to be able to fly between several trees without leaving the boundaries of their territory. Their route often consists of several trees, in urban areas it can be limited to several yards or fences. In flight, birds hunt and catch flying insects.

Tits are not migratory birds, but they can be called nomadic. In rare cases, they migrate a long distance from home. However, there are cases when tits nesting in Moscow were found in Europe due to seasonal migration. nine0005

Tits are considered socially active birds. They constantly gather in large flocks and, together with relatives, hunt, rest and equip the territory. One flock can consist of 50 individuals. Often there are situations in which birds belonging to other families are added to the flock.

Tits start pairing up during the mating season. By this time, they begin to divide the territory among themselves: about 50 meters fall on one pair. During the mating season, tits become more aggressive. They are able to drive relatives and other birds away from their territory, guarding the nest under construction. nine0005

Tit dwelling

Titmouse live in forests and forest belts for a long time, because in these places it is easier for them to get their own food. In addition, here they feel safe, which leads to the construction of nests in a remote area from human eyes. The nesting period begins in early spring, when the temperature is still low and the weather is generally quite cold. Therefore, nests under construction are insulated specifically for future offspring.

The construction of the tit is done together with a partner, as well as the rearing of offspring. Dwellings are located at a height of at least two meters from the ground. nine0005 Often, for nesting, tits use houses left by other birds.

Nests are located mainly in tree hollows. Much less often they can be found on tree branches or in any buildings. They are built from roots, feathers, branches, fluff and moss. If the birds find cotton wool, they use it to insulate the nest. Usually the inside of the nest is covered with cobwebs or wool.

Yes, built as a child

23.53%

Yes, I still do this

64.71%

No, never

11.76%

Votes: 17

Titmouse temperament is quite active, agile in itself. They do not conflict with each other, rarely come into skirmishes with other birds or animals. Tits are calm about people and can even eat food from their hands. Birds become aggressive only during the nesting period and when raising offspring. At this time, they actively strive to protect their territory from competitors, potential enemies, and then they often pounce and drive other birds away from their nest. nine0005

Birds have a peaceful nature, which helps them to get along calmly with both other birds and people. Tits show great care and caution, due to which they are less likely to come across to cats and other predators, unlike absurd sparrows.

Humans and tits get along well: birds prefer to move closer to human buildings in times of famine. Tits in winter are highly dependent on the help of people who organize feeders and feed birds that are left without food. It is best to add sunflower seeds to the feeders, which tits love more than other plant foods. These birds can be called real gourmets: they choose the largest seeds and take them for themselves, and leave small, tasteless food for other birds. nine0005

In addition, tits in urban environments may not build their nests in open areas, but use various abandoned buildings for this.

Although the birds are extremely careful, with enough patience, a person can feed them by hand. However, this is only available to someone the tits know. Therefore, in order to gain their trust, it is necessary to feed the birds for a certain time. So they will understand that a person is not dangerous and benefits them. Titmouse, accustomed to one feeding place, are able to thank not only with their communication, but also with the destruction of insects on the territory, which is especially useful in the summer. nine0005

Why do tits knock on the window with their beaks?

Tits are birds that have adapted well to living conditions next to humans. They feel confident in the urban environment and understand human habits well. So, once people in the cold season hung out food in string bags, attached directly to the windows. This was due to the small size of the refrigerator, because of which they had to find ways for themselves to keep food cold. Bold and curious tits actively pounced on the prey hung out in this way, tearing the wrappers and polyethylene. nine0271 Such situations have formed the habit of tits to rush in this way to the place of their feeders. If the feeder is located next to the window sill, and they are currently empty, tits without a twinge of conscience can perform the usual actions and knock on the glass with their beak. So birds demand food from their owners or try to get into a place where food should be kept.

Numerous populations of tits are monogamous birds that form strong, stable partnerships. The male and the female choose each other not just for one season, but for the rest of their lives and do everything together: from building a nest to raising offspring. nine0005

The breeding season starts already at the end of winter before nest building. Males who do not have a partner choose a place for future construction, and then invite the female with the help of calling songs. When the partners have chosen each other, the construction process itself begins. The male is responsible for the extraction of material, the female - for the arrangement of the dwelling. After the completion of all work, conception occurs. The female is capable of laying 5 to 15 eggs, which take about two weeks to incubate.

Eggs are white with spots and red-brown dots on their shells. Tits can lay eggs at least twice a year. The first brood appears at the end of April, the second - in July.

While the female is incubating her offspring, the male provides her with food. With the advent of chicks, the female warms them for the first few days and carefully monitors the condition of the newborns. This is due to the fact that the chicks are born almost completely naked, and therefore suffer from cold weather, wind, etc. At this time, the task of the male is to feed not only the female, but also the newborn offspring, which increases the degree of load. nine0005

As time goes by, naked and blind chicks gradually get stronger. Their body begins to cover a gray down, resembling feathers. By this time, the female also begins to leave the nest, setting off to hunt for food. Growing chicks require a lot of food, so parents have to work hard to provide for their needs. Parents during the day at least 300 times bring the food to the babies.

Within a few weeks, the chicks are completely covered with feathers, which means they are ready for independent flights and searching for food. The grown up young animals gather in flocks that do not have nests, and therefore wander in the forests in search of food. At this time, they can eat insects, seeds, berries, and closer to winter they are able to migrate to new territories with a lot of food. nine0005

Tits are considered to be very mobile and fast birds. What they lack in stamina, they make up for in flight speed and natural caution. This helps them less likely to encounter dangerous predators among animals and birds, and also practically not to be caught by people. Catching a tit is quite difficult, but despite this, birds become the desired prey for many predators. So, among the natural enemies of tits, one can distinguish:

• Owls.
• Kites.
• Eagles.
• barn owls.

In addition, the enemies of birds include woodpeckers, which are capable of destroying and ruining the nests built by tits.

Birds also often suffer from damage to property caused by the intervention of squirrels, ants, and other birds. In the natural environment, tits themselves die due to fleas, whose settlements are often found in nests. For the same reason, barely hatched chicks die.

Predators such as weasels and ferrets are capable of hunting immature individuals. Insufficiently experienced and dodgy tits can become victims of these agile predators. In addition, they often attack at the moment when the birds are most vulnerable: at the time of building a nest or when eating. nine0005

Despite the fact that tits have a lot of natural enemies, this is not the main cause of bird death.

A large percentage of deaths is due to starvation associated with lack of food. A significant part of tits die in winter due to the inability to eat insects and get plants. The frosts themselves are not so terrible for birds as hunger.

Why is the tit called a tit?

Why do tits like fat? nine0005

Where do tits come from in winter?

Tits are very common birds that do not have problems with numbers and population. Thanks to this, these birds do not need any additional protective measures, with the exception of the need to build feeders. Maintaining the life of birds, their regular feeding is due to the fact that tits are not only interesting, but also extremely useful creatures. They are able to destroy pests in vegetable gardens, orchards, birds are able to eat as many pests as their own weight, and sometimes even more. Useful properties of tits, meek peace-loving disposition make them useful neighbors for humans. nine0005

Titmouse - small birds

GAITCH (brown-headed titmouse, powdery)

Titmouse is one of the subspecies of titmouse. Lives in coniferous and deciduous forests. A fussy, noisy bird. Gaiters nest in tree stumps and hollows. They can hollow out a hollow themselves, or they can settle in someone's abandoned nest. The hollow hollowed out by a nut is unusual, it can be immediately recognized by the irregular shape of the inlet. The titmouse bird spends from 4 to 12 days to build its "house".

Titmouse photo

Nest building is very intensive: there are 12-14 arrivals to the hollow with building material per hour. However, every 1-2 hours, the birds usually stop building for a few hours. In the time free from building a nest and during the laying of eggs by the female, the couple spends most of the time preparing food.

On average, it takes about 3 days to build the nest itself. The material from which the nest is made is very different. More often, the nest is made of thin, soaked bast fibers, small chips, thin dry roots and stems, dried moss plants, wool of various animals (only thin, short and soft hairs). Less commonly, the nest is composed of scales from pine trunks and birch bark films with a small admixture of dried plants and wood chips; sometimes eggs are laid directly on the bottom of the hollow, on which, in this case, a lot of wood dust and chips are poured. nine0005

Having finished lining the cavity, the female waits 1-5 days and then lays 6-11 (usually 7-9) white eggs with reddish-brown spots. Only the female incubates the eggs for 13-15 days. All this time the male feeds the female. Like most other tits, the chicks do not hatch at the same time, but usually over a period of 2 days.

On the first day after hatching, the female almost does not fly out of the hollow: she warms the chicks and the remaining eggs; the male carries the food. On the second day, the female is already more involved in feeding the chicks, and on the third day, she begins to regularly feed the chicks along with the male. In the future, the female heats the chicks during the day, only when it is cold. The female spends the night in the nest with the chicks. Chicks are usually in the nest 19days.

The male and the female bring food to the nest up to 250-300 times a day. After the chicks leave the nest (in the middle part of the range this happens at the end of May), adults feed them for 7-10 days. Then the birds are kept in a family flock, usually consisting of 2 old and 7-9 young birds.

In July, such family flocks unite with other species of tits, kingwings and some other birds into large flocks wandering through the forest. In autumn and winter, chickadees can be found in all types of forests; with the onset of cold weather, they also appear in city parks, gardens, and in bushes along the banks of reservoirs. nine0340

However, they still gravitate toward coniferous trees. Unlike all other types of tits, chickadees quite often hollow out the bark and thin branches, extracting, like woodpeckers, hidden-living insects. The food of the brown-headed chickadee is very diverse. These are mainly small Homoptera, which are consumed in huge quantities, as well as Lepidoptera, represented exclusively by caterpillars, and Coleoptera (weevils and leaf beetles predominate among them). Of no small importance in nutrition are spiders, hymenoptera, and in winter and spring, plant seeds (mainly pine and spruce). In a small amount, the chickadee eats bugs, diptera and other insects. nine0005

Like some other species of tits, chickadees store food (insects, spiders, etc.) in summer and early autumn. Exterminating in huge quantities a variety of insects - pests of pine and spruce, the brown-headed tit brings undoubted and great benefits. It should also be taken into account that chickadees prey on insects that live under the bark of thin twigs and therefore are inaccessible to woodpeckers who cannot stay on such thin twigs, and even more so to other bird species incapable of hollowing. Brown-headed chickadees, hollowing out hollows, create, along with woodpeckers, a "housing stock" for other small hollow-nesting birds (tits, flycatchers, etc.). nine0005

Titmouse - small birds

Photo shows well the distinguishing features of this titmouse: a black cap on a large head and a light bottom without a bib. This titmouse is larger than the Muscovite.

Gaitches are always kept in pairs, which form in autumn. Gaitches rarely live in an independent flock, as a rule, they closely coexist with other tits. With them, there are always nuthatches, Muscovites, crested titmouses, and sometimes woodpeckers, pikas, kinglets.

Crested Titmouse (grenadier)

Small bird, slightly larger than Muscovy. Lively, active titmouse. Lives exclusively in coniferous forests. Vet nests inside an old hollow, not high from the ground. The hollow chooses narrow.

Color of feathers - gray with brown, different shades. The main distinguishing feature is an acute-angled ash-colored crest, which the bird either raises or lowers.

Little titmouse birds

Eggs are white with reddish-brown spots forming a corolla around the blunt end. Only the female incubates for 13-15 days, the male at this time is busy looking for food for himself and for her. nine0005

Feeding chicks in the nest and their further life proceed in the same way as in other tits. In search of food, the grenadiers inspect the forks of twigs, cracks in the bark, bunches of needles, often while hanging from the branch upside down or upside down, less often flutter at the ends of the twigs, looking out for prey; noticing something suspicious, they stop in the air, quickly fluttering their wings, and on the fly try to peck their prey.

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