Willow Tit
Parus montanus
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Distribution Britain 1,100 (-9.8%) Ireland 0
Numbers breeding: Britain 25,000 — Ireland 0 European status: 5,000,000 (1% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: declining very seriously (-50% CBC){-63%} How likely are you to record it? 125 squares (2.8%) Ranked 99 |
Once the confusion with Marsh Tits had been sorted out it became clear that the Willow Tit was the species breeding north to the Highland fringe in Scotland and with small populations further north. However it began to retreat southwards several decades ago and has not been recorded regularly breeding north of the Lothians for many years. The second Atlas shows further losses from southern Scotland and all over the rest of its range — especially in Cornwall. The only gain was Anglesey and another major loss was from most of the North-west of England. These very sedentary birds clearly lose out in cold winters but the CBC index shows a 50% decline over 1972 to 1996 and also 30% over the five years 1994-98 in the BBS. Again losing out in competition with the other commoner tit species is a possible cause. The dull black cap of the Willow Tit recalls the black cap of a judge pronouncing the death sentence — it can't be true? Can it!
Maxwell, J. 1999 BTO News: 221, 12-13.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead