The tiny blue and white Azure Tit is one of the cutest birds you'll ever see

Many bird lovers would surely enjoy feasting their eyes on this adorable bird called the Azure Tit, the eastern counterpart of the Blue Tit.

For many years, this bird was scientifically known as Parus Cyanus. In 2005, it was identified as an early offshoot from the lineage of other tits. Interbreeding with the blue tit in western Russia resulted in birds called Pleske’s Tit and was once considered a distinct species.

If you’d like to know more about this bird, read on for some fun facts about them.

Instagram

Description

The Azure Tit (Cyanistes Cyanus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is distinctively small, measuring a mere 12–13 cm (about 4-5 inches long) and weighing 8-10 grams.

Despite being tiny, these birds are noticeable because of their blue and white color. Their head, wing bars, underparts, and tail corners are white, while the upperparts are blue. They also have a dark line through the eye.

The Nominate northern population subspecies are white with a gray-black outlining of the cheek, bright blue-and-white striped wings, and a clean white breast.

The Azure Tit is the eastern counterpart of the common Eurasian Blue Tit. An interbreed with that species usually produces offspring showing a blue crown, rather than the white of an Azure Tit.

Voice/Song

This endearing little bird gives various cheery high-pitched calls and whistles, including chips, trills, and rattles. The Azure Tit’s sound resembles Blue Tit’s calls, like “dee-dee-dee” or a loud “churr.”

The song is brief, a kind on trill repeated “tsi-tsi-tshurr.” We can also hear a buzzy “cheweez-zee” and a complex “tsee-tsee-chi-chi-cheweez.”

Habitat and Range

The Azure Tit is mostly found in temperate and subarctic deciduous or mixed woodlands, scrub, marshes, high altitude agricultural areas, and even in tropical swamp forests on the southernmost part of their range. They prefer open wooded or shrubby areas, often in proximity to willow, birch, and various conifers.

They are resident species. Most birds do not migrate, but they may wander to the western part of their range during the winter season.

This species is found from eastern Poland and Finland, through western and southern Russia, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, north-western China, Manchuria, and Mongolia.

Instagram

Diet

They look for food often within dense foliage. During spring and summer, they feed on insects and other invertebrates while feeding mostly on seeds, nuts, and berries for the rest of the year.

Breeding

During the breeding season, the male Azure Tit performs courtship feeding, offering some food to its mate.

The female Azure Tit nests in a tree hole or wall where it lays eggs, closely sitting on them, hissing and biting when disturbed. The eggs are white with reddish-brown spots and are incubated for 13-14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 17-20 days after hatching.

Conservation

This species has a vast breeding range and is described as common and widespread. With its stable population and the absence of imminent threat or evidence for any declines, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) gave it the status of LC, which stands for Least Concern. However, this should not lead us to consider capturing these birds and taking them home in cages. They are better left in their natural habitat to live freely.

See more photos of this gorgeous bird in the gallery below.