Great tit  (Parus major)

The great tit is the largest of the British tits and is a familiar garden visitor (4) (5). It is slightly smaller in size than a house sparrow (5) and is easily recognised by its yellow underparts with a black band running down the centre of the breast, a black head and large white cheek patches. The back is green in colour, the greyish-blue wings feature a white bar and the sides of the tail are white (2). Males can be distinguished from females as the black central band on the breast is much thicker (2). Juveniles are duller and paler in colour than adults (5) and their cheek patches are yellow (2). Great tits have an amazingly varied repertoire of calls (6), but a sharp, loud ‘tink tink’ is often produced (5). The two-syllable song, which can be heard all year round is a mechanical ‘ti-ta-ti-ta-ti-ta’ (2) (3).