Warble UK
Willow Tit
Photo: Francis C. Franklin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Birds / Tits

Willow Tit

Poecile montanus
Tricky All year WoodlandWetland
Test yourself

Recording: Patrik Åberg / xeno-canto

Sounds like

A nasal, buzzing 'eez-eez-eez' call. The song is a sad, repeated 'tiu-tiu-tiu'.

Remember it

Buzzy and nasal, where the marsh tit sneezes. Now one of Britain's fastest-declining birds.

When and where

Listening for the willow tit

Heard
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Jan to Jun
Time of day
Day
Where
Woodland, Wetland
In Britain
All year
Family
Tits

Side by side

Often confused with

Play them one after the other and listen for the difference.

Willow Tit

Willow Tit

Poecile montanus
JFMAMJJASOND

Buzzy and nasal, where the marsh tit sneezes. Now one of Britain's fastest-declining birds.

Marsh Tit

Marsh Tit

Poecile palustris
JFMAMJJASOND

'Pitchoo!' like a sneeze. Despite the name, a bird of dry woodland.

Could you pick out a willow tit?

Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.

Play the quiz

Same habitat

Also in woodland

See all
Blackbird

Blackbird

Turdus merula
JFMAMJJASOND

Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle.

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus
JFMAMJJASOND

Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs
JFMAMJJASOND

A cheerful, accelerating run of notes that tumbles down and ends in a flourish, repeated over and over.

Coal Tit

Coal Tit

Periparus ater
JFMAMJJASOND

A fast, high, two-note phrase repeated several times: 'pitchoo-pitchoo-pitchoo'.