UPDATE: December 2016 They never did settle, but in preparation for next year I cleaned out the box, there was a starter nest of moss and bits in there, but they definitely hadn’t stayed around long enough to fledge a brood.
Over the years, we’ve waiting patiently for some feathered friends to take up residence in the boxes we’ve hung to our garden shed. The latest construction work carried out just after Christmas saw the installation of high-brow beachfront-style accommodation, which seems to have taken the fancy of a nesting pair of Eurasian blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). This small, passerine bird of the tit family Paridae, is recognisable from its blue and yellow plumage.
Blue tits are common residents of mixed woodland but will breed in nest boxes in gardens and elsewhere, they usually compete with the larger great tit (Parus major) for food and territory. Intriguingly, we have seen lots of long-tailed tits (also known as long-tailed bush tits, Aegithalos caudatus) and an occasional great tit, so it’s a nice surprise to discover it’s the blues that have set up home.