Diet and Foraging

Extensive diet information is compiled in Cramp and Perrins (19 Cramp, S., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1993). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 7. Flycatchers to shrikes. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) and information below is summarized from that source except where noted.

Microhabitat for Foraging

Forages at all levels in trees, but usually avoids tallest canopy; most often in lower levels of trees, where it gleans among foliage, branches and trunks, also in shrubs and tall undergrowth. Also on ground , especially male in non-breeding season, where collects fallen seeds, berries and invertebrates.

Food Capture and Consumption

Seeds, particularly hard-shelled ones and nuts, often collected and taken to branch , where held firmly by foot (or feet) and rapidly hammered with the bill until a hole is made through which the kernel can be extracted; some, particularly larger seeds, may be wedged in bark before being opened. Occasionally hovers for very brief moments, but rarely pursues insects in flight; commonly hovers at garden feeders and birdtables. One of the few bird species known to use a tool in obtaining food items; recorded as holding a conifer needle in the bill and using it as a means of extracting larvae from hole in tree. Highly intelligent and quick to learn, especially from partner or from others in flock, where to find hidden food. Experimental studies have shown that it can use herbivore-induced plant volatiles as olfactory cues to find insect larvae (81 Amo, L., J. J. Jansen, N. M. van Dam, M. Dicke, and M. E. Visser (2013). Birds exploit herbivore-induced plant volatiles to locate herbivorous prey. Ecology Letters 16(11):1348–1355. Close , 82 Mäntylä, E., S. Kleier, S. Kipper, and M. Hilke (2017). The attraction of insectivorous tit species to herbivore-damaged Scots pines. Journal of Ornithology 158(2):479–491. Close ).

Major Food Items

Food in summer mostly small invertebrates and larvae (usually up to 1 cm); at other seasons also seeds and various other items. Invertebrates include cockroaches (Blattodea), grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), damselflies and small dragonflies (Odonata), lacewings (Neuroptera), earwigs (Dermaptera), bugs (Hemiptera) including aphids (Aphidoidea), ants (Formicidae), millipedes (Diplopoda), mites (Acari), moths (Lepidoptera), flies (Diptera), caddis flies (Trichoptera), scorpion flies (Mecoptera), bees (from which stings usually removed) and wasps (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), spiders (Araneae), harvestmen (Opiliones), snails (Gastropoda), woodlice (Isopoda). Seeds and fruit (mostly in non-breeding season) mainly those of deciduous trees and shrubs, particularly seeds of beech (Fagus sylvatica) and hazel (Corylus avellana); also takes spilled grain (mostly wheat and maize) in fields, and fat, bread, cheese, household scraps (including meat), peanuts and sunflower seeds from birdtables (in severe winter weather estimated to consume 44% of its own weight in sunflower seeds); also takes nectar from fritillary (Fritillaria) and currant (Ribes) and sap from walnut (Juglans) and vines (Vitis). Nestlings fed mostly (not exclusively) with lepidopteran larvae, especially in deciduous woodland; in pine woods, spiders, beetles and sawfly larvae (Symphyta) form greater proportion of diet. In Britain and some other parts of Europe, shares with Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) the acquired habit of piercing milk bottle tops on doorsteps to sip cream. Flocks recorded preying regularly on hibernating bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) at a cave in Hungary (83 Estók, P., S. Zsebők, and B. M. Siemers (2010). Great tits search for, capture, kill and eat hibernating bats. Biology Letters 6(1):59–62. Close ).

Does not store food, but may steal from caches of tits that do (e.g. Coal Tit (Periparus ater) and Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)).

Information needed.

Information needed.

Information needed.