Birds · great tit
Discover the great tit
A flash of yellow between the branches: a sunbeam? Puschel looks closer. Flauschi spots the great tit’s white cheeks.
The short answer
A great tit has yellowish underparts, a black head and pale cheeks. A dark stripe runs down the breast. Several matching features help distinguish similar birds.
Listen to the animal
Real sounds from nature
Listen to the great tit
A real nature recording of this bird’s song or call.
Recording: Vladimir Yu. Arkhipov · Original title: Parus major song.ogg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · MP3 conversion of the original recordingAn imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
Flauschi spots a flash of yellow in the branches. Puschel“A sunbeam?” asks Puschel. Then a great tit with white cheeks hops onto a twig.
Puschel looks for the dark stripe on the yellow underside. Puschel“Now I have spotted three colours!” Flauschi reminds him that young great tits initially have yellowish cheeks. The bird hops on; the friends do not need to follow it to make their discovery.
Real animal facts
Four things to know
Black head
The head is mostly black.
White cheeks
Adult great tits have large white cheek patches. In recently fledged juveniles the cheeks initially look yellowish.
Yellow belly
The underside is bright yellow.
Black belly stripe
A dark stripe runs down the belly.
Mini quiz
What do you remember?
1. Which feature fits an adult great tit?
Choose one answer: a), b) or c).
- a)Entirely brown head
- b)Black head
- c)Blue head
Show answer
Correct answer: b): Black head Black head
2. A great tit has yellowish rather than white cheeks. Which explanation fits a juvenile?
Choose one answer: a), b) or c).
- a)The white cheeks have not yet developed
- b)Every great tit always has white cheeks
- c)Great tits never have yellowish cheeks
Show answer
Correct answer: a): The white cheeks have not yet developed The white cheeks have not yet developed
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Understand step by step
How it works – simply explained
Combine features
Black head, pale cheeks, yellow underside and belly stripe form a pattern. One black patch cannot reliably identify the species.
Young change
Newly fledged birds may have yellowish cheeks. An adult picture cannot explain every youngster’s colour.
A home needs more
Food, shelter and nesting places matter. A visible bird shows only part of life. Never open nests or handle young.