Granddad’s Camera
Crested tit, as it appears in the game

No.071 · Birds · Uncommon

Crested tit

Lophophanes cristatus

A tiny, perky tit with a black-and-white speckled crest, found in Britain only in the Highland pinewoods.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn and day.

Time of day

Best time
Day, all year; often at bird feeders in winter. It likes calm days and is easiest to see in the early morning.
Where in the game
the Cairngorms (pine forest)
Size
11–12 cm
Wingspan
17–20 cm
Weight
10–13 g
Lifespan
Typically 2 years once breeding; the oldest ringed bird was nearly 8 (BTO)
Population
About 1,000 pairs in the UK (BTO, 2007)
Status
Green (UK Birds of Conservation Concern, BTO)

Diet

Insects and spiders in summer; pine seeds and insects in winter; will visit peanuts and seed feeders.

Habitat

Old Scots pine woods with dead wood; found in Speyside and the Great Glen area.

Breeding

Nests in a hole excavated in a rotten pine stump between April and June; 5–6 eggs, incubated by the female for 13–16 days; chicks fledge after 20–25 days; one or two broods

Field signs

  • A trilling, purring call: a sort of 'purr-r-r-r' of trilled notes
  • Small holes in rotten pine stumps at head height
  • A quick flutter through pine branches, not hovering
  • A black-and-white bib and speckled crest even at distance

Did you know?

  • It chisels out its own nest hole in soft, rotten pine wood, usually low down.
  • In Scotland it is confined to old pinewoods and plantations in Easter Ross, Glen Affric, Strathspey and the Moray Firth coast (Trees for Life).
  • The crest lifts when the bird is excited or alarmed.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Excavating a nest hole April to May, dawn and day
    A crested tit clings to a rotten pine stump, pecking out chips of wood and flicking them away to make a nest hole.

Photo tip

Sit near a peanut feeder at eye level and use a fast shutter to freeze the twitchy movements. Look for the crest against a soft green pine background.

Be a good naturalist

Nest holes are protected. Do not use recordings to lure the bird: playback stresses birds during the breeding season and can draw them from their nests.

The law

Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: it is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest.

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