Marsh Tit

How to recognise it

• Glossy black cap reaching down to the eye, white cheeks and often a small black bib
• Brownish grey upperparts and paler, greyish beige to white underparts
• No pale panel on the folded wing
• Sexes alike, young birds have a duller black cap and bib

Call and song

The Marsh Tit is best identified by its call, a short, explosive double note "pitjä" stressed on the second syllable. A common contact call is a sharp, high "tzie" or "szie". The song can be a ringing "schip-schip-schip" or a softer "tu-tu-tu-tu-tu". When agitated it adds a "dä-dä-dä" series.

Where and when

The Marsh Tit is resident in Sweden but has a limited range and is largely absent north of the Dalälven river and on Gotland. It is reported from 19 of 21 counties and is reported most in December and January. Outside the breeding season it is often seen in conifer forest or in hedges in more open country. It is red-listed as Near Threatened (NT).

Food and behaviour

In summer it eats mostly insects, but in autumn and winter readily seeds. It hoards seeds in bark crevices and similar places, mostly from September to the end of February, peaking in September and October. It stays in its territory even in cold winters, and mixed winter tit flocks rarely hold more than one or two Marsh Tits. It nests in tree holes and readily in nest boxes.