Callum Macgregor

Well-known, common and widespread small passerine, breeding throughout Europe and NW Africa.  Partial migrant; NE breeders move regularly and go furthest, with the proportion migrating and migration distance decreasing towards SW. Irruptive into W Europe. Migration distance has decreased recently (Smallegange et al. 2010). Insectivorous in summer, feeding chicks mainly with caterpillars, in winter eats fruits, seeds and nuts. Population fluctuates depending on beech mast. Popular garden bird, that has benefited from increase in garden feeding. European population 65-106 million breeding pairs.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendStable
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		127000000-205000000,158000000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Great Tit

Cline from ENE to WSW in connectivity pattern. Birds from the British Isles show few movements, mainly within country, with very few connections to C and E Europe. Fennoscandian birds move frequently, but a minority reaches C Europe. Broad band of connectivity from Russia and Baltic states to C and W Europe, linking encounters as far East as Perm and Yekatarinburg in Russia at 60° East to W Europe. Few movements in SW, SC and SE Europe, usually over short distances. Large ringing stations in eastern Baltic clearly visible as nodes in the network.

Recoveries by Condition for Great Tit

As many as 88% of recoveries are retrapped by ringers, with an increasing trend over time. Another 8% are also live birds, leaving only 4% dead recoveries. Birds shot or intentionally taken are rare at 0.5%, but occur disproportionally in SE France. Other categories are evenly spread geographically, although recaptures are more concentrated at migration hotspots and in the Low Countries where they are apparently ringed in very high numbers.

Annual Movements for Great Tit

Very little variation in time and space visible, but a few things stand out: Nearly all encounters in France are in Oct-Feb, in Russia Sep-Feb, while breeding season encounters in these countries are absent, possibly due to a lack of nestbox studies where birds can be retrapped that are common in many other countries.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Great Tit

Birds in the breeding season (May-Jun) in N Europe mainly connect to coastal sites in the region in Oct, then there are connections to the Low Countries in Oct-Dec. E and C European birds in May-Jun connect to scattered sites in W and C Europe in Nov-Jan. Encounters in Sep-Oct are concentrated at Baltic ringing stations, connecting to the Netherlands, Belgium and France in Nov-Jan, also to the northern Baltic in Jun. Birds in Oct at Col du Bretolet, Switzerland nearly all connect to SE France in Dec-Feb. In the British Isles nearly all connections are within country, highlighting the isolated status of the newtoni subspecies, although a handful of birds from Nov-Feb connect to W Europe in Mar-Jun or C and E Europe in Oct. Birds in SW and SC Europe in Oct-Feb connect to C and E Europe May-Dec.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Smallegange, I.M., Fiedler, W., Köppen, U., Geiter, O., Bairlein, F.2010 . Tits on the move: exploring the impact of environmental change on blue tit and great tit migration distance. Journal of Animal Ecology 79 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01643.x) : 350–357

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