Coal Tit or Great Tit?

These two get mixed up constantly. Here is what actually separates them, taken from each bird's own page.

Coal Tit

Periparus ater

A great tit shares the black head and white cheeks, but it is much larger, has a bright yellow breast with a black stripe down the middle, and a green back. It also has no white nape patch.

Coal tit also has a black head and white cheeks, but look at the back of the head: it has a white patch on the nape that great tit never has. Coal tit is also much smaller, with buff — not yellow — underparts and no belly stripe.

Side by side

	Coal Tit	Great Tit
Size	About 11cm — the smallest UK tit, clearly smaller than a blue tit and much smaller than a robin.	About robin-sized, but chunkier and longer-bodied — the biggest of the UK tits.
Where you'll see it	Briefly at feeders, and in conifers and tall trees; it seldom stays put for more than a second or two.	Feeders, hedges and tree canopy; drops to the lawn and to the bird bath.
What it eats	Insects and spiders in summer, conifer seed in winter, plus sunflower hearts and peanut fragments it carries away.	Caterpillars and insects in the breeding season; sunflower hearts, peanuts and suet the rest of the year.
When	Resident all year; most obvious in autumn and winter when it is actively hoarding food.	Resident all year, most obvious at feeders from October to March.
Status	Green listed	Green listed

Still not sure? Describe what you saw and we will rank every garden bird against it — including these two.

Both descriptions are taken from the species pages, which cite the BTO and RSPB. Reviewed 2026-09-20.