Bird Watching or Twitching in Andalucia Southern Spain

October 2005, Great Tit, Parus major

The tit family is one of the most successful species with a range extending from northern Scandinavia to North Africa. The Great Tit is one of the commonest birds in the mixed oak and conifer woodland that proliferates just inland from the coast. Unlike its British cousins the Spanish Great Tit is a shy bird, its presence usually being detected by its call, a distinctive seesawing melody of three notes, and perhaps a glimpse as it darts from one tree to another. Closer it is unmistakeable with its black crown and chest stripe, blue wings and yellow breasts. The female has the same colouring but more muted than the male. The woods around El Hacho at Gaucin have a number of pairs.