Full Pupp Presents: The Greatest Tits, Vol. 1

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The great tit ( Parus major) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa where it is generally resident in any sort of woodland; most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters. Until 2005 this species was lumped with numerous other subspecies. DNA studies have shown these other subspecies to be distinct from the great tit and these have now been separated as two distinct species, the cinereous tit ( Parus cinereus) of southern Asia, and the Japanese tit ( Parus minor) of East Asia. The great tit remains the most widespread species in the genus Parus. Great tits have been found to possess special physiological adaptations for cold environments. When preparing for winter months, the great tit can increase how thermogenic (heat producing) its blood is. [52] The mechanism for this adaptation is a seasonal increase in mitochondrial volume and mitochondrial respiration in red blood cells and increased uncoupling of the electron transport from ATP production. [52] As a result, the energy that would have been used to make ATP is released as heat and their blood becomes more thermogenic. [52] In the face of winter food shortages, the great tit has also shown a type of peripheral vasoconstriction (constriction of blood vessels) to reduce heat loss and cold injury. [53] Reduced cold injury and heat loss is mediated by the great tits’ counter-current vascular arrangements, and peripheral vasoconstriction in major vessels in and around the birds’ bill and legs. [53] This mechanism allows uninsulated regions (i.e., bill and legs) to remain close to the surrounding temperature. In response to food restriction, the great tits’ bill temperature dropped, and once food availably was increased, bill temperatures gradually returned to normal. [53] Vasoconstriction of blood vessels in the bill not only serves as an energy saving mechanism, but also reduces the amount of heat transferred from core body tissues to the skin (via cutaneous vasodilation), which, in turn, reduces heat loss rate by lowering skin temperature relative to the environment. [53] Relationship with humans The great tit's willingness to use bird-feeders and nesting boxes makes it popular with the general public and useful to scientists

Estók, Péter; Zsebők, Sándor; Siemers, Björn M (2010). "Great tits search for, capture, kill and eat hibernating bats". Biology Letters. 6 (1): 59–62. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0611. PMC 2817260. PMID 19740892. The great tit is generally not migratory. Pairs will usually remain near or in their territory year round, even in the northern parts of their range. Young birds will disperse from their parents' territory, but usually not far. Populations may become irruptive in poor or harsh winters, meaning that groups of up to a thousand birds may unpredictably move from northern Europe to the Baltic and also to Netherlands, Britain, even as far as the southern Balkans. [22]

There are currently 15 recognised subspecies of great tit: [10] At Kew Gardens, London. The British subspecies P. m. newtoni has a wider mid-line ventral stripe on the lower belly than the nominate race

Mols, C; Visser, M; Jones, Peter (2007). Jones, Peter (ed.). "Great Tits ( Parus major) Reduce Caterpillar Damage in Commercial Apple Orchards". PLOS ONE. 2 (2): e202. Bibcode: 2007PLoSO...2..202M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000202. PMC 1784073. PMID 17285148. Estók, Péter; Zsebők, Sándor; Siemers, Björn M. (2009). "Great tits search for, capture, kill and eat hibernating bats". Biology Letters. 6 (1): 59–62. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0611. PMC 2817260. PMID 19740892. Balat, F (1981). "New Species of Biting Lice (Mallophaga) of the genera Penenirmus and Rostrinirmus" (PDF). Folia Parasitologica. 28: 161–68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2008 . Retrieved 12 February 2010. The great tit was described under its current binomial name by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. [3] Its scientific name is derived from the Latin parus "tit" and maior "larger". [4] Francis Willughby had used the name in the 17th century. [5] The 11 subspecies of the cinereous tit were once lumped with the great tit but recent genetic and bioacoustic studies now separate that group as a distinct species

Simpson, D.P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5thed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p.883. ISBN 978-0-304-52257-6.

Wilkin, Teddy A.; King, Lucy E.; Sheldon, Ben C. (2009). "Habitat quality, nestling diet, and provisioning behaviour in great tits Parus major". Journal of Avian Biology. 40 (2): 135–145. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-048X.2009.04362.x. Galván, Ismael; Amo, Luisa; Sanz, Juan J. (2008). "Ultraviolet-blue reflectance of some nestling plumage patches mediates parental favouritism in great tits Parus major". Journal of Avian Biology. 39 (3): 277–82. doi: 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04273.x. Krebs, John R. (1971). "Territory and breeding density in the Great Tit, Parus major L". Ecology. 52 (1): 3–22. doi: 10.2307/1934734. JSTOR 1934734.

Fitze, PS; Kölliker M; Heinz Richner (2003). "Effects of Common Origin and Common Environment on Nestling Plumage Coloration in the Great Tit ( Parus major)". Evolution. 57 (1): 144–150. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00222.x. PMID 12643574. S2CID 24748894. P. m. major, described by Linnaeus in 1758, is found throughout much of Europe, Asia Minor, northern and eastern Kazakhstan, southern Siberia and northern Mongolia, as far as the mid-Amur Valley.

Great tits are seasonal breeders. The exact timing of breeding varies by a number of factors, most importantly location. Most breeding occurs between January and September; in Europe the breeding season usually begins after March. In Israel there are exceptional records of breeding during the months of October to December. The amount of sunlight and daytime temperatures will also affect breeding timing. [10] One study found a strong correlation between the timing of laying and the peak abundance of caterpillar prey, which is in turn correlated to temperature. [36] On an individual level, younger females tend to start laying later than older females. [37] Leaving nest box Great tit nesting in nest box a b Harrap, Simon; Quinn, David (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm. pp.353–371. ISBN 978-0-7136-3964-3. Perrins, C. M.; McCleery, R. H. (1989). "Laying dates and clutch size in the Great Tit". Wilson Bulletin. 101 (2): 236–253. P. m. blandfordi was described by Pražák in 1894. [13] It is found in north central and southwestern Iran.Dubiec, Anna; Cichoñ, Mariusz (2001). "Seasonal decline in health status of Great Tit ( Parus major) nestlings". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 79 (10): 1829–1833. doi: 10.1139/cjz-79-10-1829. a b c d Winder, Lucy A.; White, Stewart A.; Nord, Andreas; Helm, Barbara; McCafferty, Dominic J. (20 April 2020). "Body surface temperature responses to food restriction in wild and captive great tits". Journal of Experimental Biology. 223 (8). doi: 10.1242/jeb.220046. ISSN 0022-0949. PMID 32312718. S2CID 216047432.