The willow tit is a passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and across the Palearctic. The plumage is grey-brown and off-white with a black cap and bib. It is more of a conifer specialist than the closely related marsh tit, which explains its breeding much farther north. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate.
Region
Palearctic (Europe to northern Asia)
Typical Environment
Found from temperate and boreal Europe across Siberia to the Russian Far East. Prefers damp, young or regenerating woodland, birch and willow carr, and edges of coniferous and mixed forests. Often associated with areas rich in dead or decaying timber, which it needs for nest excavation. In Western Europe it favors scrubby lowlands and wet woodland; farther east it extends through vast taiga landscapes.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2000 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The willow tit is a close look‑alike of the marsh tit but tends to have a duller, matte-black cap and a more noticeable pale wing panel. Unlike most small tits, it excavates its own nest cavity in rotten wood using its bill. It caches seeds in crevices to eat later and can remember many of the storage sites. Populations have declined in parts of Western Europe due to loss of damp, scrubby woodland and deadwood.
In the UK
Subspecies Poecile montanus restrictus in Japan
Eggs, collection Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Temperament
generally shy, territorial pairs
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Typically maintains year-round territories as pairs, but may join mixed-species foraging flocks in winter. Monogamous, excavating nest cavities in soft, decayed wood. Lays a clutch of several small white eggs with reddish speckles and both parents feed the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a simple, whistled series of clear notes, often a repeated ‘piu-piu’ or ‘swee-swee’. Calls include a nasal, buzzing scold and a harsh ‘dzer’ distinctive from the marsh tit.
