Birds · Passeriformes · Paridae
Coal Tit
Periparus ater
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
The smallest of the Iberian tits, with a glossy black head and white cheeks and, as a diagnostic feature, a broad white patch on the nape that no other tit has. A blue-grey back, a buff belly and two pale wing bars. When alarmed it raises a small crest.
Weight
8 g – 10 g
Size
10 cm – 11.5 cm
Lifespan
3 years
Diet
Omnivore
Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
In pairs
Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Estimated population
A peninsular population of 4 to 5 million pairs is estimated
Fun facts
- GeneralThe smallest tit in Europe; in a good seed autumn it hides thousands of them.
- It lays in stores: it hides pine nuts and seeds in concealed places to see it through lean spells such as snowfalls.
- It has a liking for pine processionary caterpillars and gathers at their tents to take them.
- It appears at appreciable densities even in eucalyptus plantations, not because of the eucalyptus but because almost all such plantations keep isolated pines or stands of pine.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Pine and fir woods and mixed conifer forest
- Size at birth
- The chicks hatch blind and helpless
- Gestation / incubation
- 14-16 days, by the female alone, fed by the male
- Litter / clutch size
- 5-12 white eggs with red blotches, with extreme clutches of up to 14; it usually has two clutches a season
Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España); IUCN Red List; Asturnatura; Polo 2016, Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles (MNCN-CSIC); Tellería y Santos 1994; Hagemeijer y Blair 1997, EBCC Atlas
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapBest time: All year round; in autumn and winter it joins mixed tit flocks that move through the wood
Where to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 223 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Coal Tit — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Great Tit
Parus major
European Crested Tit
Lophophanes cristatus
Eurasian Blue Tit
Cyanistes caeruleus
African Blue Tit
Cyanistes teneriffae
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaocto
Least ConcernRed Kite
Milvus milvus
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