Marsh Tit Poecile palustris

The Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris, is a small and neat woodland bird belonging to the family Paridae, and one of a pair of near-identical species – the other being the Willow Tit – that have long confounded birdwatchers. Adults have a glossy black cap, white cheeks, brown upperparts, and pale underparts, distinguished from the Willow Tit most reliably by call – a distinctive, explosive ‘pitchoo’ – and by the absence of a pale wing panel. Despite its name, it has little affinity with marsh habitats, being primarily a bird of mature, structurally diverse deciduous woodland with abundant dead wood and a well-developed shrub layer. The Marsh Tit has declined substantially and is a Red List species in Britain, its fortunes tied to the quality and management of ancient and semi-natural woodland. Image: © angus_w, iNaturalist.

Find out more: RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, iNaturalist