Coal tit

    Parus ater

Castilian: Carbonero garrapinos

Catalan: Mallerenga petita

Gallego: Ferreiriño negro

Euskera: Pinu-kaskabeltza

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Paridae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

It is not threatened and has benefited from the artificial expansion of pine trees.

Length / size: 11,5 cm / 17-21 cm

Identification: Small bird. Its back and wings are greyish, and its head is black with large white spots on its cheeks and one on its nape that characterises this bird. Its breast is a brownish colour and does not have a central black band.

Song: Call with fine notes together or alone, similar to other tits. The song consists of a series of rough and fast "sitchu -sitchu -sitchu" sounds.

Diet: It primarily feeds on insects and spiders, which it complements in winter with pine nuts. It stores its food in hidden places in times of shortages.

Reproduction: Pairs begin to be formed in the winter months, but breeding begins a little later. The female prepares a cup-shaped nest with the help of the male, and to do so, she uses a thick layer of moss mixed with spider web and covered with animal hair, feathers and fuzzy parts of plants, and it places the nest under roots in a rock wall or in holes in the wall. The female is responsible for incubation but both the male feed the chicks. The chicks become independent when they leave the nest.

HABITAT

It is a forest-dwelling species that primarily occupies coniferous forests, but it can also appear in beech and oak forests.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: More concentrated in the central and northern mountains of the peninsula: the Central System and Pyrenees. Rare at low elevations, except in winter, when it nears parks and gardens.

In Castile and León: Numerous in all the provinces while avoiding steppe areas and plateau forests. Very common in León, Segovia, northern Zamora, Soria and Palencia, and less common in Salamanca.

Movements and migrations: It is a sedentary nesting species. Also, European specimens come to winter.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 1.5 to 5.2 million breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: