Full Pupp Presents: The Greatest Tits, Vol. 1

Product Information

Great tits combine dietary versatility with a considerable amount of intelligence and the ability to solve problems with insight learning, that is to solve a problem through insight rather than trial and error. [10] In England, great tits learned to break the foil caps of milk bottles delivered at the doorstep of homes to obtain the cream at the top. [29] This behaviour, first noted in 1921, spread rapidly in the next two decades. [30] In 2009, great tits were reported killing, and eating the brains of roosting pipistrelle bats. This is the first time a songbird has been recorded preying on bats. The tits only do this during winter when the bats are hibernating and other food is scarce. [31] They have also been recorded using tools, using a conifer needle in the bill to extract larvae from a hole in a tree. [10] Breeding The great tit was unsuccessfully introduced into the United States; birds were set free near Cincinnati, Ohio between 1872 and 1874 but failed to become established. Suggestions that they were an excellent control measure for codling moths nearly led to their introduction to some new areas particularly in the United States of America, however this plan was not implemented. [23] A small population is present in the upper Midwest, believed to be the descendants of birds liberated in Chicago in 2002 along with European goldfinches, Eurasian jays, common chaffinches, European greenfinches, saffron finches, blue tits and Eurasian linnets, although sightings of some of these species pre-date the supposed introduction date. [24] Birds were introduced to the Almaty Province in what is now Kazakhstan in 1960–61 and became established, although their present status is unclear. [25] Behaviour Diet and feeding Like other tits, great tits transport food with their beak, and then transfer it to their feet, where it is held while they eat Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2010). "IOC World Bird Names (version 2.3)". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011 . Retrieved 19 February 2010. Cresswell, Will; McCleery, Robin (2003). "How Great Tits maintain synchronisation of their hatch date with food supply in response to long-term variability in temperature". Journal of Animal Ecology. 72 (2): 356–366. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00701.x.

Balat, F (1981). "New Species of Biting Lice (Mallophaga) of the genera Penenirmus and Rostrinirmus" (PDF). Folia Parasitologica. 28: 161–68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2008 . Retrieved 12 February 2010.Hawkins, T. (1950). "Opening of Milk Bottles By Birds". Nature. 165 (4194): 435–436. Bibcode: 1950Natur.165..435H. doi: 10.1038/165435a0. Wilkin, Teddy A.; King, Lucy E.; Sheldon, Ben C. (2009). "Habitat quality, nestling diet, and provisioning behaviour in great tits Parus major". Journal of Avian Biology. 40 (2): 135–145. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-048X.2009.04362.x. Dubiec, Anna; Cichoñ, Mariusz (2001). "Seasonal decline in health status of Great Tit ( Parus major) nestlings". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 79 (10): 1829–1833. doi: 10.1139/cjz-79-10-1829. Fitze, PS; Kölliker M; Heinz Richner (2003). "Effects of Common Origin and Common Environment on Nestling Plumage Coloration in the Great Tit ( Parus major)". Evolution. 57 (1): 144–150. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00222.x. PMID 12643574. S2CID 24748894. Estók, Péter; Zsebők, Sándor; Siemers, Björn M. (2009). "Great tits search for, capture, kill and eat hibernating bats". Biology Letters. 6 (1): 59–62. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0611. PMC 2817260. PMID 19740892.

P. m. blandfordi was described by Pražák in 1894. [13] It is found in north central and southwestern Iran. One explanation for the great tit's wide repertoire is the Beau Geste hypothesis. The eponymous hero of the novel propped dead soldiers against the battlements to give the impression that his fort was better defended than was really the case. Similarly, the multiplicity of calls gives the impression that the tit's territory is more densely occupied than it actually is. Whether the theory is correct or not, those birds with large vocabularies are socially dominant and breed more successfully. [21] Distribution, movements and habitat Mixed forests are one of the habitats great tits use in Europe A nest box in Altenbeken, Germany a b Norris, K. J. (1990). "Female choice and the evolution of the conspicuous plumage coloration of monogamous male great tits". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 26 (2): 129–138. doi: 10.1007/bf00171582. S2CID 36757531. a b Harrap, Simon; Quinn, David (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm. pp.353–371. ISBN 978-0-7136-3964-3. P. m. turkestanicus, was described by Zarudny & Loudon in 1905, and ranges from east Kazakhstan to extreme north west China and west Mongolia.Galván, Ismael; Amo, Luisa; Sanz, Juan J. (2008). "Ultraviolet-blue reflectance of some nestling plumage patches mediates parental favouritism in great tits Parus major". Journal of Avian Biology. 39 (3): 277–82. doi: 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04273.x. Samplonius, Jelmer M.; Both, Christiaan (2019). "Climate Change May Affect Fatal Competition between Two Bird Species". Current Biology. 29 (2): 327–331.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.11.063. PMID 30639109.