- Lifespan
- 10–12 years in the wild, with some individuals recorded living over 15 years
- Size & Weight
- 14 cm long, wingspan 24–26 cm; 9–20 g
- Habitat
- Woodlands, gardens, parks, and hedgerows with deciduous or mixed trees, particularly where there is good undergrowth and nesting cavities.
- UK Distribution
- Resident year-round throughout the UK, found in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland; populations are supplemented by continental migrants in winter.
- Diet
- Highly omnivorous and opportunistic; feeds on insects, spiders, seeds, nuts, and berries; visits garden feeders for sunflower seeds, peanuts, and fat.
- Prey
- Small insects, caterpillars, aphids, spiders, and invertebrates; occasionally takes small vertebrates such as young birds
- Predators
- Sparrowhawks, Eurasian kestrels, domestic cats, and occasionally Eurasian jays; nest predation by woodpeckers, nuthatches, and squirrels
- Mating Season
- March to June
- Breeding
- Clutch size 7–11 eggs, incubation period 12–15 days, fledging period 16–22 days; typically one brood per year, occasionally two
- Behaviour
- Highly vocal with a distinctive loud 'tea-cher, tea-cher' song; forms winter flocks and is often seen in mixed-species feeding parties. Acrobatic and agile foragers that hang upside down to probe for food, and readily exploit garden feeding stations.