A Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus, (fka Parus caeruleus) perched on a lichen-encrusted twig against a textured background.
Blue Tits are very well-known and popular birds in Britain. They are small and colourful and readily come to food provided for birds in gardens. They are acrobatic and can hang upside down to access food. They readily take to nest boxes with the correct size of hole in the front. Young Blue Tits are more subdued in colour, and have pale yellow cheeks.
Their natural food is insects and spiders, and they feed caterpillars to their young. In winter, they switch to eating seeds and nuts, which is why they are regular visitors to garden bird feeders.
Normal-sized gardens are unlikely to hold enough caterpillars to feed a Blue Tit brood, even though they will range through quite a large area searching for food. So it can be a good idea to provide live mealworms for the parent to take to their chicks.
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