The largest UK tit - green and yellow with a striking glossy black head with white cheeks and a distinctive two-syllable song. It is a woodland bird which has readily adapted to man-made habitats to become a familiar garden visitor. It can be quite aggressive at a birdtable, fighting off smaller tits. In winter it joins with blue tits and others to form roaming flocks which scour gardens and countryside for food.
Key ID Features:
The UK's biggest, boldest and most aggressive tit.
Adults are distinctively coloured with bright yellow underparts adorned with a thick black centre stripe (narrower in the female) which joins the shiny black head, neck and stout bill.
Upperparts include green back and blue-grey tail and wings.
Bold white cheek patches, wing bars and tail edges are yellower in juveniles.
It's familiar 'teacher-teacher' or 'Peter-Peter' song is just one of some 40 varied calls.
Overview
Scientific name: Parus major.
Family: Tits (Paridae)
Where to see them:
Woodlands, parks and gardens across the UK. Absent only from the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland.
Seen in UK:
All year round.
What they eat
Insects, seeds and nuts.
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
