Tit Willow (Poecile montanus) adult – England

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The Guardian Newspaper reported in February 2021 that the Willow Tit, one of Britain’s smallest and most endangered birds, requires a surprisingly large area of wild land to thrive, according to research. See:  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/11/britains-endangered-willow-tit-needs-vast-area-to-thrive-research-finds.

Less than 3,000 pairs of the bird survive, mainly on brownfield sites in former coal mining areas, making it the fastest declining resident species, with numbers plummeting by 94% since 1970.

A study of the birds nesting on a former mining area in north-west England has found that each pair requires seven hectares (17 acres) to prosper. A pair of blue tits typically require less than a hectare.

One reason willow tits may be doing well on former mining sites is because these areas are often quite large but also because such disused or accidentally rewilded land provides the thickets of young trees they require.

Dr Richard Broughton, an ecologist with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology who led the research, said: “The willow tits’ presence in these post-industrial areas is almost a phoenix from the ashes story.