Hello, everyone! Have you ever seen a small bird with crest feathers standing up like bedhead? That’s most likely a Coal Tit. Today, I’d like to delve into the charm of the Coal Tit.
The Coal Tit is a tiny bird, only about 11cm in body length, making it the smallest of the tit family in Japan. Its charm isn’t just in its cute, bedhead-like short crest feathers. It has a vivid blackish-brown upper side and a light brown underside, adorned with bluish-gray or blackish-brown feathers, and the white patches from its cheeks to the back of its neck are very stylish.
Though its coloration is similar to that of the Great Tit, it is overall smaller, and you can distinguish it by the characteristic black pattern that extends to the neck like a bow tie. This pattern, along with the Great Tit’s tie and the Willow Tit’s beret, is one of the easy-to-remember identification points.
Its diet is omnivorous, consisting of insects and spiders found in trees, as well as fruits and seeds, with a particular fondness for pine seeds. It also stores food in the crevices of trees. Spring to summer is the season for nest-building. The Coal Tit makes a warm nest in tree holes or woodpecker nests, using moss, animal fur, and feathers.
The call of the Coal Tit, “Tsu-pin, Tsu-pin,” is synonymous with its song. Compared to other tits like the Great Tit or the Willow Tit, its tempo is faster, and it sings in a higher pitch. In autumn and winter, it sometimes moves to lower grounds with its peers. It also forms lively flocks with other birds like the Willow Tit and the Goldcrest.
Despite its small size, the Coal Tit is filled with numerous fascinating aspects of its ecology and behavior. Next time you visit the forest, try looking for a Coal Tit. The joy of finding a tiny body with distinctive crest feathers and a bow tie pattern is truly special!
