The colourful blue tit is one of our most attractive garden birds. The Eurasian blue tit and the related hybrids are native species in areas of the European continent with a mainly temperate or Mediterranean climate. It is also found in parts of the Middle East. In Great Britain, the blue tit is typically found in deciduous woodland, parks and gardens – even in the centre of towns. It is a widespread breeding bird throughout Scotland except for the Western Isles and Northern Isles, where it is a vagrant.
At first glance, the acrobatic and often apparently cheeky blue tit is a blue and yellow bird. A closer inspection reveals bright blue wings, tail and crown, yellow under-parts, greenish back and mantle, white cheeks, and black eye stripe, bib and collar. They also have a white wing bar. The bill is black and the legs are a blue-grey. The sexes are similar, though the female is slightly paler. The juvenile birds are duller than adults and have a greener crown, wings and tail, and yellow cheeks.
Blue tits seem to be one of the most agile of birds, and expertly hang upside down from feeders and branches, pecking at buds or foraging for insects. They are regular visitors to garden bird feeders. Blue tits feed mostly on insects, especially caterpillars, and on seeds. In springtime they feed also on pollen, nectar and sap, and in the autumn on berries. In the garden, they search among the plants and crevices for insects like aphids, beetles, and caterpillars as well as spiders, but also take peanuts, sunflower hearts, suet and other high energy food from bird feeders.