largest tit, loudest tit. the milk-bottle top was a fair cop.
Great tit says
Bird 16 of 30 · video, 27:23
Great tit
Parus major
The biggest British tit: black cap, black stripe down a yellow front, a cheery ringing song and a nose for caterpillars.
- Small, 18.6 g
- Not stated
- Nest box with a hole
- On a feeder or bird table
About the great tit
Marks and dots
Tap a numbered dot, or a name in the list.
A large black cap.
A black band running down the belly.
White outer tail feathers.
From egg to adult
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Egg
Eggs7–9 eggs≠BTOthe video says 6–8 eggs
Hatch after14 days video, BTO agrees
-
Chick in the nest
In the nest forabout 21 days video, BTO agrees
-
Young bird
The video does not describe young great tits.
Adult
Large black cap, black belly band
Broods a year1 brood video, BTO agrees
BTO averages: 14 days incubating the eggs, then 18 days in the nest. Averages across nest records, so the figures above can differ a little.
At the table
- caterpillars for the young
- garden food in winter
A valuable pest controller: the young are fed on caterpillars that might otherwise damage garden plants. A woodland bird that has discovered what a garden offers in winter. BTO says they are mostly insect-eaters in summer and use feeders over winter.
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
Great tit: gardens matter most in winter, Dec to Feb; first eggs laid 10 Apr to 17 May, average 26 Apr (BTO); first chicks leave the nest 11 May to 21 Jun (worked out from BTO).
What to know about the great 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
The largest British tit, and size is the main point of identification: a large black cap, a black band down the belly and white outer tail feathers.
Male and female
The video does not compare the sexes. BTO says the sexes are similar, with a bolder black stripe on the male.
The young
The video does not describe young great tits.
not in the video
Song and call
A fairly common bird whose cheery, ringing song is a familiar sound in spring.
Nest
Great tits will happily use nest boxes with a whole hole in front, not a part-open front. A disturbed female sits perfectly still and hisses at any intruder. Garden nest sites are perfectly adequate, but the clutch tends to be smaller than in their native woodland.
Feeding
A valuable pest controller: the young are fed on caterpillars that might otherwise damage garden plants. A woodland bird that has discovered what a garden offers in winter. BTO says they are mostly insect-eaters in summer and use feeders over winter.
Staying or leaving
The video does not say whether great tits move about with the seasons.
not in the video
Sources and checks
Where every fact about the great tit came from
17 claims about the great tit: 6 checked, 7 from the video only,1 differ, 3 from a source only. How the grades work
| Claim, in our words | Video time | Grade | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|
| The great tit is the largest British tit. | 27:23 | video only | BTO's adult weights agree for the tits in this video (great tit 18.6 g; blue 10.9 g, marsh 10.7 g, coal 9.1 g, long-tailed 7.8 g), but the other British tits were not checked. |
| Size is the main point of identification, together with a large black cap and white outer tail feathers. | 27:31 | video only | |
| A black band runs down the belly. | 27:37 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO describes a yellow breast divided by a central black stripe. |
| BTO says the sexes are similar, but the black stripe is more pronounced in males. | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO's introduction to the species. |
| It is fairly common and its cheery, ringing song is a familiar sound in springtime. | 27:44 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says the most familiar song is a repeated teacher-teacher-teacher heard in spring. |
| They will happily use nest boxes with a whole hole rather than a part-open front. | 27:58 | video only | BTO says great tits take readily to nest boxes, and does not say which kind. |
| If the female is disturbed she sits perfectly still and hisses at an intruder. | 27:51 | video only | |
| Garden nest sites are perfectly adequate, but the clutch tends to be smaller than in their native environment. | 28:25 | video only | |
| The great tit is a valuable pest controller, feeding its young on caterpillars that might otherwise damage garden plants. | 28:05 | video only | |
| Primarily a woodland bird, it has discovered the value of gardens for food in winter. | 28:15 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says it is mostly insect-eating in summer, and uses garden feeders over winter. |
| It was often the culprit responsible for picked-open milk-bottle tops. | 27:26 | video only | |
| Only one brood is raised each year.video: 1 brood | 28:23 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 1 brood (2 exceptionally) (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 1 |
| Six to eight eggs.video: 6–8 eggs | 28:32 | ≠differs | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 7–9 eggs (BTO typical)outside BTO's typical range of 7–9, though inside the 2–16 BTO has observed |
| They hatch after 14 days.video: 14 days | 28:35 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 13–14 days (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 13–14 |
| The fledglings leave the nest about three weeks later.video: about 21 days | 28:37 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 18–21 days (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 18–21 |
| Adult weight, from ringing records: 18.6 g, adult average. | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 18.6 g, adult average |
| Timing of the first clutch: first eggs laid around 26 Apr (10 Apr-17 May). | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: first eggs laid around 26 Apr (10 Apr-17 May) |
Written in our own words after “British Birds in your Garden” by The Great British Channel, where the great tit starts at 27:23.Numbers are checked against the BTO's page for the great 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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