Blue tit

    Parus caeruleus

Castilian: Herrerillo común

Catalan: Mallerenga blava

Gallego: Ferreiriño azul

Euskera: Amilotx urdina

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Paridae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

The use of insecticides to control forest plagues and the scarcity of hollow spaces to raise their young are its principal threats in addition to the loss of forests.

Length / size: 11,5 cm / 17,5-20 cm

Identification: Bird that is smaller than the great tit. Its head, tail and feathers are a bluish colour, and its white cheeks contrast with a black band that crosses its eyes. The breast is an intense yellow in adults and softer in juveniles.

Song: Multiple calls similar to those of other tits but less intense. It repeats a "teet-teet-teet-chwaarr" verse.

Diet: Its diet is varied and includes insects, invertebrates, shoots, seeds, pine nuts, and the pulp of fleshly fruits like berries and figs.

Reproduction: It usually lays one clutch per year with many eggs. The female is responsible for building the nest in nesting boxes or hollow cavities using moss, wool, grass and feathers. She also incubates the eggs, but both parents feed the chicks.

HABITAT

It needs wooded areas and prefers deciduous forests. It is found up at an altitude of 2,000 metres, although in winter it descends and is distributed throughout diverse areas, including parks.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It only appears in provinces on the peninsula. It avoids areas lacking trees, such as the central section of the Ebro Valley and the Guadalquivir Valley.

In Castile and León: It breeds in all the provinces but is not present in treeless areas. Principally in León, Zamora, Salamanca and southern Burgos.

Movements and migrations: It is a sedentary species in the Iberian Peninsula. It does not move far away from its breeding areas, except in witner. European specimens come to pass the winter.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of of 930000 to 3.6 million breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: