Coal Tit (Parus ater) 22-9-14 - a photo on Flickriver

            Meantán dubh

Tomtit, Coalmouse, Black Ox-eye

One of Ireland's top-20 most widespread garden birds.

Status: Common resident throughout Ireland.

Conservation Concern: Green-listed in Ireland. The European population has been evaluated as Secure by BirdLife International.

Identification: At first glance looks like a smaller, less colourful version of a Great Tit. Back, tail and wings are grey with a hint of green and two small white wingbars. Underside dirty white with a brownish wash. Most distinctive feature is the head pattern - pure white cheeks, black crown, bib and side of nape - the nape itself is a long white nape patch. Bill is small and pointed, legs bluish-grey. Prefers coniferous woodland, but can occur in other habitats including gardens. Has habit of prising peanuts from feeders and flying away to eat or cache them elsewhere. Usually in small numbers but can join other tits to form foraging flocks in winter.

Similar Species: Blue Tit, Great Tit.

Call: Some phrases of the song similar to the Great Tit's "teacher, teacher…" but the quality of Coal Tit's song has been likened to the repetive whistle of a bicycle pump - a rapid "pitchew, pitchew, pitchew.." , with other variations. Usual call a clear "chew".

Diet: Insects, seeds and nuts. Will take peanuts and fat at bird tables.

Breeding: Breeds throughout Ireland mostly in coniferous woodland, but also in other woodland, farmland and gardens. Nests in cavity in tree or wall and will use nestboxes.

Wintering: Widespread. Large flocks are occasionally seen at headlands along the south and west coast, but the reasons for these movements remain unclear.

Where to See: Common and widespread throughout Ireland.

Taken on: September 22, 2014

Tags:

Coal

Tit

ater

Bird « less

Sets appears in: • Coal Tit (Parus ater)

Stats: 708 views

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder