i'm shy and i'm hiding seeds. mind your own business.
Coal tit says
Bird 17 of 30 · video, 28:50
Coal tit
Periparus ater
A small, shy tit with a white patch on the back of its neck, a taste for black sunflower seeds and a secret stash.
- Tiny, 9.1 g
- Not stated
- On or near the ground
- Tree hole
- On a feeder or bird table
About the coal tit
Marks and dots
Tap a numbered dot, or a name in the list.
A distinctive black cap.
A prominent white patch on the nape: marsh and willow tits lack it.
Two white wing bars: marsh and willow tits lack them.
From egg to adult
-
Egg
Eggs9–10 eggs BTO
Hatch after14–16 days BTO
-
Chick in the nest
In the nest for16–19 days BTO
7–11 young per brood video only
-
Young bird
The video does not describe young coal tits.
Adult
Black cap, white nape patch, two wing bars
Broods a year1 brood video, BTO agrees
BTO prints no average incubation and nest time for this bird, so there is no nest clock.
At the table
- black sunflower seeds
- insects from pine needles
Black sunflower seeds have raised coal tit numbers dramatically, and the volume of seed that vanishes from feeders is staggering. Nobody knows for sure, but they seem to store away up to 60 per cent of what they take in secret caches. In the wild they suit conifer woods, where their fine bills extract insects from pine needles.
This page mentions bird tables. Since April 2026 the RSPB and the BTO advise against them, and say to feed seeds and peanuts only from November to April. What changed, and why.
Through the year
Coal tit: no months given.
What to know about the coal tit
Eight short notes in our own words. Each chip says what the note stands on, and links to its row in the table below.
What to look for
Smaller than a blue tit, with a distinctive black cap, a prominent white nape patch and two white wing bars. Marsh and willow tits can be confused with it, but they have neither the white nape nor the wing bars.
Male and female
The video does not say whether male and female coal tits look different.
not in the video
The young
The video does not describe young coal tits.
not in the video
Song and call
The video does not describe the coal tit's song. BTO says it is like a great tit's, with the same two-beat rhythm, but more slurred and higher pitched.
not in the video
Nest
Much more cautious about nest sites than other tits. It will occasionally use a nest box, but prefers holes, quite often at ground level, and old rodent holes are popular.
Feeding
Black sunflower seeds have raised coal tit numbers dramatically, and the volume of seed that vanishes from feeders is staggering. Nobody knows for sure, but they seem to store away up to 60 per cent of what they take in secret caches. In the wild they suit conifer woods, where their fine bills extract insects from pine needles.
Staying or leaving
The video does not say whether coal tits move about with the seasons.
not in the video
In the garden
Gradually becoming a more frequent visitor to garden bird tables, so keep the black sunflower seeds coming. The video's intro calls it a remarkably shy member of the tit family.
Sources and checks
Where every fact about the coal tit came from
16 claims about the coal tit: 4 checked, 8 from the video only,0 differ, 4 from a source only. How the grades work
| Claim, in our words | Video time | Grade | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal tits have a distinctive black cap, a prominent white nape patch and two white wing bars. | 28:50 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO describes a black cap and bib, white cheeks, a white spot on the nape and pale wing bars. |
| It can be hard to tell from a marsh or willow tit, but those lack the white nape patch and the wing bars. | 29:00 | video only | |
| Coal tits are smaller than blue tits. | 28:50 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO's adult weights are 9.1 g for the coal tit and 10.9 g for the blue tit. |
| The availability of black sunflower seeds for garden birds has increased coal tit numbers in Britain dramatically. | 29:10 | video only | |
| The volume of seed that disappears from feeders is staggering, and they seem to store up to 60 per cent of what they take in secret caches. | 29:19 | video only | The video's automatic captions garble this figure, which is read here as 60%. The video itself says nobody knows for sure. |
| In natural surroundings the coal tit suits coniferous woodland and hunts insects among the conifers. | 29:54 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says coal tits prefer conifer forests and hunt for spiders and insects, especially among conifers. |
| Its fine bill is dextrous at extracting insects from among pine needles. | 30:00 | video only | |
| Coal tits are much more cautious than other tits about nesting: they occasionally use nest boxes but much prefer holes, quite often at ground level, with old rodent holes popular. | 29:32 | video only | BTO says they nest in tree hollows and will also use nest boxes. |
| Usually only a single brood is reared each year.video: 1 brood | 29:45 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 1–2 broods (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 1–2 |
| Between seven and eleven young.video: 7–11 young per brood | 29:48 | video only | The video counts young; BTO counts eggs, so the two are not compared. |
| Coal tits are gradually becoming more frequent visitors to garden bird tables. | 30:02 | video only | |
| The coal tit is a remarkably shy member of the tit family. | 01:51 | video only | |
| Adult weight, from ringing records: 9.1 g, adult average. | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 9.1 g, adult average |
| Typical clutch: 9–10 eggs (BTO typical). | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 9–10 eggs (BTO typical) |
| Incubation takes 14–16 days (BTO typical). | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 14–16 days (BTO typical) |
| Chicks leave the nest after 16–19 days (BTO typical). | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 16–19 days (BTO typical) |
Written in our own words after “British Birds in your Garden” by The Great British Channel, where the coal tit starts at 28:50.Numbers are checked against the BTO's page for the coal tit, read on 5 October 2026. We are not connected to the channel or to the BTO.
More birbs: 30 so far, and more to come
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