Coal Tit
Parus ater
  |
|
Distribution Britain 2,315 (-3.2%) Ireland 854 (-0.1%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 610,000 Ireland 270,000 European status: 14,000,000 (6% in Britain and Ireland =5) British population trend: increasing (+28% CBC, +63% wood){+55%} How likely are you to record it? 1165 squares (25.9%) Ranked 40 [21] |
Although appearing in all sorts of woodland the Coal Tit is particularly at home in conifers where its thin bill enables it to forage easily amongst the needles. A hundred years ago, as now, the birds were found everywhere there was woodland and were expanding in areas where conifers had been planted. In Ireland, where the local race hibernicus has been separated from the British britannicus, it has spread westwards as conifer plantations have been established in otherwise treeless areas. The same has happened in Scotland and there have been a few years when they have bred on the Western Isles (including 1997). Populations are liable to be hit by hard winters but have not been so affected much since 1962/63. The 25-year CBC index (1972-96) is up by 63% and the five-year BBS (1994-98) has increased by 32%. A species that is doing very well.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead