Wild Horizons

Two new WT territories today, very different habitats. The first, Willow ‘shrubland’ on bog. The second, a narrow belt of Willow on the course of a small stream on ex-colliery, between mature conifers. The first pair responded with song, the second just gargle and contact calls. Every day different…

A lovely example of a linear, opportunistic Willow Tit territory. Predominantly Blackthorn hedge on one side of the path, and young Willows, Oaks and Bramble on the other. Area c. 30 - 40 m wide, but c. 450 m long.

These birds really are woodland generalists rather than ‘habitat specialists’.

Yellow-faced Marsh Tits!
A new pair confirmed today in a 2025 Willow Tit territory, with yellow faces from the pollen of sallow catkins. It looked like the birds were drinking nectar. Amazingly agile and great to watch for a few minutes, both birds regularly ‘sneezing’ (“pitchou” contact call).

With a larger dataset we can begin to see the bigger picture and then have a better idea of what’s happening on the ground. What is encouraging is they are still here, there are still meta populations across plenty of good habitat, and we can at least advise against habitat damage/protect nests etc.

The problem we have here is time. As it stands we don’t have many years of our own data to begin to draw definitive conclusions at a local and wider level. There is however one constant in that *every* site has GSW territory close, and 50% of nests in 2025 were attacked. That’s some losses!

It’s tragic, particularly in south/east like you say, when you count extinctions on a county level. What we’re finding in south Wales is a typical contraction from edge of range, coastal sites going first. Interestingly though, there are sites where they appear stable, such as Lake Vyrnwy.

Image of a dead Hazel branch (snag) with a small hole in where a pair of Willow Tits have partially excavated a nest chamber before abandoning it for another site.

Image of a dead Hazel branch (snag) with a small hole in where a pair of Willow Tits have partially excavated a nest chamber before abandoning it for another site.

It’s amazing how narrow a stem Willow Tits will excavate to create a nest cavity. These two snags are from the same territory, both only part excavations so not completed. First image from 2025 season, second from 2024. They’re c. 50 mm diameter at hole entrance! That’s tiny!

Hazel often used here.

As they are such an adaptable species utilising different habitats there will definitely be many territories, particularly on private/inaccessible land, that are simply undetected. They’ve clearly declined from some former known sites in Carmarthenshire but we are finding new territories.

A new WT territory found in typical habitat, where Oak and Hazel woodland borders overgrown hedgerows and a boggy river valley. This pair can be heard giving a classic response during playback survey - male singing, female giving distinct rasping call, and note the Blue Tit chasing them closely.

Great to survey for these birds now when they are most responsive. But beware, many of the woodland sites we monitor in Wales for Willow Tit also have Marsh Tit! Marsh Tits often respond to Willow Tit playback and vice versa! Good to learn vocalisations of both species, for positive ID on shy birds.

The loveliest of songs in a February hedgerow - a male Willow Tit on territory, his sweet notes ringing out over the valley.

Meanwhile his wife shouts at a confused Blue Tit!

Yes, and the argument that the laid hedge will regenerate and be a nice dense bushy structure is lost here, as that’s no good for Wiltis. A lot of the nests we find range between 2m and 4m high, above flailed hedge height, and all that brilliant structural diversity goes with the flail.

Exactly, and the problem is rather than allow any old hedges or tree lines to stay wild they are felled or smashed with flail, even grubbed out, then a new fence goes in. All for a couple of metres of field. It’s tragic. It’s so much easier to install a new fence in front of the hedge slightly.

Image of a pile of cut branches where a length of hedgerow in a Willow Tit territory has been felled.

So to summarise, the very way in which these linear habitats are even considered, let alone discussed at policy level, should be readdressed. As it stands, it’s quite clear that truly this is not hedgerow management, it’s environmental vandalism, and should carry hefty fines. End.

Image of tree stumps, an old hedgerow where Willow Tits foraged two weeks ago now felled with chainsaws.

How the practice goes on of completely flattening kilometres of trees, removing every scrap of deadwood, not to mention the character of the trees’ themselves is manipulated, all for the sake of ‘helping wildlife’ and ‘best practice’, with no prior WT surveys, is actually incomprehensible in 2026.

It is therefore deeply concerning that there appears to be a strong resurgence and push towards ‘hedgerow restoration and management’. Kilometres of diverse, species-rich hedgerows (usually posing no hazard to cars, people etc.) are being “brought back into favourable condition”. This is bad news.

Image of a mature hedgerow and field margin that is unmanaged and has been allowed to grow wild for c. 20 years. Willow Tits breed here.

From many hours experience on the ground across the county, identifying territories and nest finding, it’s clear to see just how critical mature hedgerows are for post natal dispersal in Willow Tits, foraging, nesting and also local adult movements (eg. if WT needs to search for a new mate).

Satellite image showing a patchwork of hedgerows, with a red circle indicating a 2026 Willow Tit territory.

Hedgerows & Willow Tits ~ A thread

Carmarthenshire holds more Willow Tits than any other county in Wales (Wotton, S. 2022). Looking at satellite maps of the county, it’s clear to see the potential for these birds, with areas of suitable wooded habitats, interconnected with unmanaged hedgerows.

Photo of Willow Tit nest cavity in Oak tree.

Willow Tits prefer to fully excavate their own cavities in soft (ish) deadwood, although now and again they will finish small naturally formed cavities by digging further (like in image). They will use specialist nest boxes filled with sawdust, occupied only when installed in their spring territory.

A ribbon of riparian magic between two hillsides of conifers. Steep valley bottoms often become interconnected refuges for Willow Tits, in an otherwise barren landscape. Boggy streams are too difficult to access for machinery, and Alder, Willow, Birch, Hazel, Guelder Rose, Elder and Bramble thrive.

Hedges - laying, heavy flailing, & cutting limbs with circular saws; all bad news for Willow Tits (and many other species). This 2025 nest (opened up by GSW) is in a roadside Hazel snag that took years to grow, die and decay. Intensive management of any wooded habitats is detrimental to these birds.

Willow Tits are wrongly categorised as a habitat specialist (eg. young wet woodland). This isn’t true - they are highly adaptable, living in wet & dry ancient woodland, around conifer plantations, old hedgerows, scrub & bog, Alder and Willow carr (old & young) and so on. Note the Oak in this video.

Willow Tits have a wide range of vocalisations. This high pitched “zizizizizizizi vit vit vit vit” gives away a second bird - the more obvious singing of the male in the background, plus this female responding to a potential threat close by, indicates a pair together in their spring territory.

Another long abandoned typical post-industrial site in south Wales. Native trees and shrubs rapidly colonising open ground, no management resulting in a dense understorey layer. It’s not just Willow Tits using these habitats - Marsh Tits love them too.

This was a site in Carmarthenshire we monitor (don’t share locations publicly). Returning to the same individual birds often reveals there is actually a pair on territory.

A post-industrial wet woodland site in south Wales. In common with every site we have ever confirmed Willow Tit territories on, no woodland management is undertaken here. A dense tangled understorey with abundant deadwood. Marsh Tits a stone’s throw away too.

Your garden sounds lovely. It would depend where you are in the UK as Willow Tits are now scarce or extinct in many areas.

Hi Simon, this is a Coal Tit throughout. Can sound quite similar.

We’ve been surveying and finding new Willow Tit territories since last October, but now birds are really becoming vocal. Some amazing gargle calls and vocalisations today from two new pairs.

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