Marsh tit

Description

With a body length of 11.5 to 13 cm, the marsh tit is intermediate in size between the great tit and the blue tit.

The beak is blackish with lightened edges (possibly in contrast to the willow tit). The iris is dark to blackish brown. The glossy black head cap on adults extends over the forehead and crown, down to the middle of the eye and back into the nape. This contrasts with the white cheeks and ear coverts. The sides of the neck are brownish white. The chin and middle of the throat are black, with some of the feathers finely tipped with white. The upperparts are brown-grey, but often slightly lighter and warmer beige on the rump. The dirty white underparts are pale beige, especially towards the flanks and undertail coverts. The dark brown-grey primaries and secondaries are narrowly brown on the outer vane and fringed with white on the inner vane. The primary coverts are also dark brown-grey, the tertials dull brown-grey. Axle feathers and underwing coverts are white with a beige tinge. The tail feathers are dark brown with an olive-brown fringe on the outer vane; the outer fringe of the outer ones is lightened to whitish. Legs and feet are bluish grey to slaty.

Birds in juvenile plumage are recognisable by their dull sooty-black cap, brown-black throat patch, greyer upperparts and whiter, barely beige underparts.

The marsh tit is very similar to the willow tit. The best way to tell them apart is by their calls and song, but with a little practice they can also be distinguished by their external features. In the willow tit the head is a dull sooty black and the white fringes of the secondaries form a light field on the folded wing. Often the throat patch is much narrower in the Marsh Tit and the cheeks are less pure white. The marsh tit also appears more small-headed and round-headed overall. Other distinguishing features can vary greatly geographically. In Central Europe, the differences are slight. Here, willow tits are more conspicuous for their warm beige flanks, while marsh tits appear more "colourless".

The marsh tit prefers deciduous forests or mixed deciduous forests rich in variety and borderlines, with a large stock of old wood, sufficient deadwood and sparse undergrowth. In Central Europe, it typically occurs in mixed forests of oak and beech, but also in floodplain and marsh forests, field copses, orchards, parks, larger gardens with old trees or cemeteries. In pure coniferous or beech forests it is usually found only rarely or in marginal areas.

The name "marsh tit" is misleading, as it is by no means bound to marshy habitats. Although it reaches high settlement densities in wet forests, it avoids sites that are too wet, as well as those that are too dry or nutrient-poor. While the willow tit is usually more common in the wooded and semi-open landscapes of the floodplains, the marsh tit predominates in the closed woodland forms of the lowlands and hill country. In contrast to the willow tit, it can sometimes be found in suitable habitats within cities.

Outside the breeding season, the species is less choosy about habitats. It can often be found in coniferous woods or hedgerows in the more open countryside. It also often visits feeding sites near the edge of forests.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumpfmeise). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 17 November 2021