The Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands. It is a resident bird and most birds do not migrate.
The azure blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye and encircling the white cheeks to the chin, give the Blue Tit a very distinctive appearance. The forehead, eye streak, and a bar on the wing are also white. The nape, wings and tail are blue. The back is yellowish green and the under parts mostly sulfur-yellow with a dark line down the abdomen. The bill is black, the legs bluish grey, and the irides* dark brown. The young are much more yellow than the old birds.
It will nest in any suitable hole in a tree, wall, or stump, or an artificial nest box, often competing with House Sparrows or Great Tits for the site. The same hole is returned to year after year, and when one pair dies another takes possession.
The bird is a close sitter, hissing and biting at an intruding finger.
When protecting its eggs it raises its crest, but this is a sign of excitement rather than anger. Nesting materials are typically moss, wool, hair and feathers, and the eggs are laid in April or May. The number in the clutch is often very large, but seven or eight are normal.
*Irides: Of the iris
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