Where have all the tits gone?, I haven't seen any for ages Options

[Andy Capp]

Not so long ago the blue tit was everywhere and you could hear them if not see them. I have seen more sparrows than tits and even a pair of goldfinches have just visited our patio, yet I have not seen any blue tits. Admittedly we don't deliberately leave out food for birds in the summer these days, but even still, you should still see them. Do they have a population problem?

[CrackerJack]

I think the pigeons have eaten them. The flying rats are an all too regular visitor to my garden and trees due to my neighbour feeding the bloody things. I have a long stick for the very purpose of knocking their nests out of my apple trees.

Tits on the other hand would be very welcome. Can't get enough tits but sadly like you I don't seem to have seen many recently....

I understand there are websites available and you can look at them online?

[x2lls]

Not so long ago the blue tit was everywhere and you could hear them if not see them. I have seen more sparrows than tits and even a pair of goldfinches have just visited our patio, yet I have not seen any blue tits. Admittedly we don't deliberately leave out food for birds in the summer these days, but even still, you should still see them. Do they have a population problem?

Definitely not in my garden. We have loads visiting, and also nesting in the boxes we have.
In addition, this is my list of visitors to date.

Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Collar Dove, Chaffinch, Crow, Goldfinch,Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail,Hedge Sparrow, Heron, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay ,Long Tailed Tit,Magpie, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Robin, Rook, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tawny Owl, Wood Pigeon, Wren.

[CrackerJack]

There's a Collared Dove nesting in a small tree in our front garden. It's the shabbiest looking nest I've ever. There's more bits of twig lying underneath the tree than actually forming part of the nest - they'd make hopeless engineers! I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if the chicks don't fall through the gaps in this shambles of a nest.

[Andy Capp]

We do have a lot of cats about, but the blackbirds and thrushes seem to ignore them and the cats seem to ignore them as well. For good or bad we see few starlings too.

[Andy Capp]

Definitely not in my garden. We have loads visiting, and also nesting in the boxes we have.
In addition, this is my list of visitors to date.

Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Collar Dove, Chaffinch, Crow, Goldfinch,Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail,Hedge Sparrow, Heron, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay ,Long Tailed Tit,Magpie, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Red Kite, Robin, Rook, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tawny Owl, Wood Pigeon, Wren.

Interesting you say that, a cursory Internet search and it would seem that few years ago it was thought the blue tit population nearly halved, yet a recent article suggests they have made a recovery.

I have seen nearly all of those in recent past, but in terms of our garden and near by fields, no tits: great, blue, willow or marsh.

Might just go and get a hanger just to see if they come out.

[x2lls]

Interesting you say that, a cursory Internet search and it would seem that few years ago it was thought the blue tit population nearly halved, yet a recent article suggests they have made a recovery.

I have seen nearly all of those in recent past, but in terms of our garden and near by fields, no tits; great, blue, willow or marsh.

Might just go and get a hanger just to see if they come out.

They definitely will appear if you provide a food station. House sparrows are on their way back here. I've lived in my place for approx ten years now, and it's only the last two or three that they have appeared on a regular basis. Plastic soffit boards are not sparrow friendly, so I'm considering putting up some communal housing for them.

[Andy Capp]

Yes, we have sparrows. We also have swifts who often nest in the gable.

[Gazzadp]

Plenty of Tits in and around Speen & Shaw areas of Newbury.

[Simon Kirby]

I'm pretty sure I've been hearing great tits (though I'm no expert) but I can't say I've been particularly aware of other tits. I know that robin population plummets regularly and recovers without a problem, so it wouldn't surprise me if the tit population did likewise, but I haven't seen anything from the RSPB about any particular issue - I'll look now though!

[Simon Kirby]

The RSPB's garden bird survey didn't suggest there was a problem with tits, with great and blue tits amongst the top ten species of garden birds.

However, what I wasn't aware of is the fall in numbers of song thrushes.

Green finches have also declined, with the RSPB suggesting that Trichomonosis is responsible - a parasite that thrives on dirty bird tables and feeders - it recommends regular cleaning to help prevent the disease. It also infects tits so it is conceivable that there could be a local problem from this, or indeed some other disease.

[Turin Machine]

The RSPB's garden bird survey didn't suggest there was a problem with tits, with great and blue tits amongst the top ten species of garden birds.

However, what I wasn't aware of is the fall in numbers of song thrushes.

Green finches have also declined, with the RSPB suggesting that Trichomonosis is responsible - a parasite that thrives on dirty bird tables and feeders - it recommends regular cleaning to help prevent the disease. It also infects tits so it is conceivable that there could be a local problem from this, or indeed some other disease.

We've had bucket loads all winter. Great, Blue and Long Tailed.

[Gazzadp]

Although we get plenty of Blue Tits, Great Tits and even a good few Long Tailed Tits coming to the feeders in our Garden, one thing that I have noticed over the 3 years or so, is that we NOLONGER get any finches.

We used to get lots of Green Finches and a few Bull Finches and Gold Finches, but over recent year we have seen none of them in our garden, yet Green Finches are still supposed to be quite common! :/

We have even got finch feeders (Niger Seed), yet still none.

[Andy Capp]

Odd... like I said, we had a pair of goldfinches just a couple of days ago. First in years. Despite blue tits being my favorite, goldfinches are so striking!

[blackdog]

We get plenty of chaffinches and goldfinches but the greenfinch numbers have plummetted - though we still get the occasional one or two. Only seen a bullfinch in the garden once.