Really Weird Bird Behavior: The Great Tit

The Great Tit is a small (4.9–5.5 inches in length) passerine bird, but large in the family Paridae, which includes chickadees and titmice.  The species is very widespread, found in woodlands across Europe, the Middle East, Central and Northern Asia, and parts of North Africa. 

 A pair of Great Tits

These birds consume mostly insects during the spring and summer.  Once colder weather arrives and insects are scarce, they eat more seeds, nuts, and berries.  Similar to birds of prey, tits will hold larger food items in their feet in order to eat.  They will also strike at the food with their beak until it is ready to devour.  They can break open a hazelnut with this method in about twenty minutes.  They will hammer off the heads of large insects when feeding them to their young.  They will also hold down large caterpillars with their feet and rip out their guts so the chicks do not consume tannins (found in the plants eaten by caterpillers), which could inhibit chick growth.

When food becomes very scarce in the winter, these small birds turn into ravenous predatory beasts!  They will seek out and hunt hibernating common pipistrelle bats!

A Common Pipistrelle Bat in flight. 

A study done at a Hungarian cave, published in 2009, discovered that it was not an opportunistic feeding behavior.  The Great Tits actively and purposely searched for the bats, then pulled them out of their roosting cavities and pecked at their heads until they died.  The bird then proceeded to eat their brains…so nutritious!

The Great Tit has also been witnessed to kill smaller passerine birds and eat their brains.  One case reports Pied Flycatchers with smashed skulls were found in a nest box taken over by Great Tits.  There have also been reports of Great Tits attacking and killing birds that were caught in nets or traps.  They will attack small or weak birds and split their heads open with their beaks to get to the brains! 

Submitted by Sara Oliver, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist