Reporting on Willow Tits

Have you seen (or heard) this bird?

It’s a Willow Tit and has the dubious accolade of being Britain’s most rapidly declining resident bird.

Now is peak time for willow tits to be singing and the wet scrub habitat at the bottom of our meadows is an ideal spot to search for them.

Visually, they are almost indistinguishable from the very similar Marsh Tit, so song is the best way to be sure of an identification.

The Shropshire Branch of the British trust for Ornithology (BTO) are carrying out a survey of Willow Tits to build a record of where these birds can be found in the county. So please look and listen for them and send any reports into bto.shropshire@gmail.com

If you’re not an expert with bird song, then we recommend an app for your phone called Merlin Bird ID. 

If you’re lucky enough to come across one in the meadows, please let us know as it’s a bird we would love to add it to our list.

**Photograph from Shropshire Wildlife Trust website.