The Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

There are around 3.4 million breeding pairs in Britain.

Blue Tits can live for up to 3 years but the oldest one recorded was nearly 10.

The old generic name is Titmouse.

They love breeding in nestboxes and are generally more productive nesting in man-made structures than in their more natural woodland habitat.

British Blue Tits have only one brood a year and produce the largest clutches of any songbird: 7-13 eggs.

However, finding enough food for the young hungry chicks is more difficult in urban gardens because the density of their insect prey is lower than in the surrounding countryside.

Autumn is the time when the fewest Blue Tits visit gardens.