The blue tit and the great tit are the two members of the tit family most likely to visit gardens, often seen feeding at hanging bird feeders. While they share similarities, such as yellow underparts and blue and green upperparts, there are key differences in their appearance and songs that make them easy to tell apart.
Blue tit
Black stripe through eye
1 of 3 Blue crown 2 of 3 Grey stripe on belly 3 of 3The blue tit is the smaller of the two birds and has a blue crown with a white face and a distinctive black stripe running through its eye. Its underparts have a narrow, dark grey stripe down the centre of its belly.
The blue tit’s song is a high-pitched trill, often described as “tsee-tsee-tsee.”
Great tit
The great tit is larger with brighter yellow underparts. It has a glossy black cap and lacks the eye stripe seen on the blue tit. It has a bold black line running down its belly, which connects to the throat.
Its song is one of the most recognisable among garden birds, a repetitive “teacher-teacher-teacher” that sounds like a squeaky bicycle pump.
