How to welcome the Marsh Tit in Manchester, England, United Kingdom

About the Marsh Tit

The marsh tit is a Eurasian passerine bird in the tit family Paridae and genus Poecile, closely related to the willow tit, Père David's and Songar tits. It is a small bird, around 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighing 12 g (0.42 oz), with a black crown and nape, pale cheeks, brown back and greyish-brown wings and tail. Between 8 and 11 subspecies are recognised. Its close resemblance to the willow tit can cause identification problems, especially in the United Kingdom where the local subspecies of the two are very similar; they were not recognised as separate species until 1897.

Source: Wikipedia

Ecological traits of the Marsh Tit

• Nesting : small-cavity nester.
• Preferred feeder food : seed feeder, fat balls.

Matching nest box plan

For the Marsh Tit, the reference plan from nichoirs.net is:

Recommended internal dimensions: 100 × 200 × 100 mm (width × height × depth).

Entrance hole diameter: 25-27 mm.

See the full plan on nichoirs.net

Installing and maintaining the nest box — Marsh Tit

Installation

• Height : Between 1.50 m and 6 m. The LPO specifies between 2 and 5 m. Natagora specifies a minimum of 1.8 m, ideally more than 3 m. The most consensual recommendation is 2-5 m.
• Orientation : East or South-East for the front/entrance hole. Avoid prevailing winds (often west/south-west) and full sun all day. Tilt the nest box slightly forward.
• Support : Tree trunk (avoid beech), wall or pole. Never use nails directly on the tree (except aluminum). Use sheathed wire with wooden or plastic foam wedges between the wire and the bark. Fix securely to prevent falling. Avoid nearby branches or ledges that could serve as perches for predators.
• When to install : From autumn or early winter (November ideally). Birds use it as a winter roost and get used to it. It's not too late until March, or even April, but the chances of occupation decrease for the first breeding season. The LPO and Vogelbescherming are aligned on the same period.
• Precautions : Perches are useless and should be removed so as not to help predators. Place an anti-predation metal plate around the entrance hole. Leave a distance of 15 to 20 m between nest boxes of the same type for Cyanistes caeruleus and Ficedula hypoleuca, 40 to 50 m for Parus major, 70 to 80 m for Sitta europaea. Passer domesticus and Passer montanus are colonial and can have nest boxes close together. Do not put any lining (straw, moss...) in the nest box.

Annual cleaning

• Frequency : Once a year, after each breeding season.
• Method : Empty all nest materials. Brush the inside with a wire brush. Use a blowtorch to eliminate parasites, or rinse with boiling water. NABU mentions the possibility of rinsing with clear water and possibly a soda solution if parasitic infestation is significant.
• Products to avoid : Never use soap, detergent, chemicals or insecticides. The LPO uses linseed oil for wood preservation. The LPO mentions black soap for maintenance in one source, but other sources recommend not to use soap/detergent. The most consensual recommendation is not to use anything other than water so as not to leave any odor in the nest box.
• When to install : End of September or beginning of October, after the breeding season, once the last brood has left the nest box. At this time, hymenopterans cease their activity and other winter occupants (bats, dormice, bees) have not yet or no longer occupied the premises. Cleaning can be postponed to the end of October if dormice occupy it. It is also possible to clean at the end of winter, just before the nesting period, but this risks disturbing winter occupants and does not prevent parasitism. The best period for cleaning is autumn.
• Precautions : Wear gloves. Make sure the nest box is empty before cleaning. Do not touch eggs or chicks during visits. Unhatched eggs can be removed between September and January. Check the fixings and the general condition of the nest box. The nest box must be designed to allow easy cleaning (a removable part).

Sources: LPO, Natagora, Vogelbescherming, RSPB, NABU, nichoirs.net.

Three ways to help

• Install a nest box — Free species-tailored construction plans and video tutorials.
• Install a feeder — Choose the feeder and seeds based on the bird's feeding habits.
• Grow a natural pantry — Native local plants that sustainably feed this bird and biodiversity.

Other birds observed in Manchester

• Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
• Western Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
• Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
• Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
• Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
• Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus)

Sources and credits

• Observation data: eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, ebird.org)
• Source: Wikipedia
• Plans and dimensions: nichoirs.net