Crested Tit

Lophophanes cristatus

Identity, life and distribution

Crested Tit Lophophanes cristatus is a small bird with a black-and-white crest and strongly patterned face. The crest may be raised or flattened, so its height in a single photograph is not decisive.

It is associated with European woodland, especially coniferous habitats. It searches branches and trunks for insects and pine seeds, stores food for winter and may join mixed tit flocks.

The female excavates a nest site in suitable dead wood and lines it with soft material. BTO gives a typical clutch of five or six eggs. Suitable dead wood is therefore part of a living forest’s nesting infrastructure.

The photograph was taken in Estonia and illustrates the species, not its occurrence in Morocco.

Avibase, using Clements treatment, mentions rare vagrancy to Morocco. That differs from an established population.

www.bto.org — Crested Tit · www.rspb.org.uk — Crested Tit · avibase.bsc-eoc.org — Crested Tit

Photo: Yehor Yatsiuk