Great Tit

• Chicks grow a bright yellow patch on the nape that reflects ultraviolet light, possibly to catch their parents' attention.
• It eats insects and caterpillars, especially while rearing young, and seeds, nuts and berries in winter.
• One bird reached a record 15.4 years.
• comunicaciónIt can adjust the structure of its song to the level of urban background noise, singing at higher pitches in noisy cities so as not to be drowned out.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - pneumatised bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Woodland, parks and gardens across much of Europe, North Africa, Central Asia and east as far as Japan

Birth weight

Tiny, blind and featherless at hatching

Size at birth

Tiny at hatching

Sexual maturity

1 year

Gestation / incubation

12-15 days

Litter / clutch size

5 to 12 eggs per clutch, often 2 broods a year

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of up to 15.4 years in a ringed bird in the wild

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Planet of Birds; Garden Wildlife Direct; Binocular Base; Britannica; Animalia.bio; Songbird Survival; Birds of the World; PMC (nest temperature study, yolk steroids study)

Best time: All year round; it is most conspicuous from February to May, when the males sing from high perches.