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Birds
Blue tit
Cyanistes caeruleus
A tiny acrobat in blue, yellow and white, always busy and always on the move.
- Size
- About 12cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Gardens, parks and woods, often at feeders
My spotter's list
Flits about in quick little flights and spins round on its perch. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the blue tit
AcrobatUpside down is fine
Blue tits hang upside down from twigs and feeders to reach food that other birds can't get to.
ChicksA huge shopping list
A pair may collect thousands of caterpillars to feed one brood of chicks, timed for when the caterpillars are at their peak.
ColourSecret blue
The blue cap shines in ultraviolet light, which other blue tits can see but we can't.
HomesNest box favourites
Blue tits are one of the birds most likely to move into a garden nest box with a small, round hole.
HistoryMilk thieves
In the last century blue tits learned to peck through the foil tops of milk bottles on doorsteps to drink the cream.
WeightFeatherweight
A blue tit weighs only about 11 grams, a little more than a pound coin.
The real thing
Photos of the blue tit
Out and aboutHow to spot one
Watch a hanging feeder: blue tits arrive in small, busy groups and often hang upside down. Look for the blue cap and the dark line through the eye.
Lend a handHow to help
Put up a nest box with a 25mm hole, two to four metres up and facing away from the midday sun. Sunflower hearts and fat balls help in winter.
Following youLadybird
Who should follow you?
Bees and hoverflies
Butterflies and moths
Dragonflies and damselflies
Beetles, hoppers and ants
Not insects at all
Snails and spiders aren't insects: a snail is a mollusc, and spiders have eight legs.
Garden birds
Pond animals live on the Pond page: choosing one takes you there.
Pond life
Night garden
Seashore animals live on the Seashore page: choosing one takes you there.
Rock pool life
Woodland animals
Under a log
Meadow life
River animals live on the River page: choosing one takes you there.
River life
Mountain and moor
Farmland
Town and city
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