Coal Tit photographed at Saumarez Park [SAU] on 29/12/2015 Photo: © Anthony Loaring (visit site)

Since the first Guernsey record in 1932, Coal Tits have been an uncommon autumn migrant and winter visitor to all the major islands in the Bailiwick. It has also been recorded on Herm and also on the Casquets on 19 October 1975. (GBN,Conder). It breeds irregularly in Guernsey and may have bred in Alderney although this has not been confirmed.

Between 1969 and 1999, Coal Tits were recorded in Guernsey in all but four years, three of these in the 1990s. The series of records in the early 1970s probably refer to a small resident/breeding population added to by a small numbers of migrants each autumn. An irruption took place in 1975 ("records from all over the island" - GBN) but few stayed to breed the following year. Unfortunately details of the 1975 irruption were not documented fully in the Guernsey Bird News, hence the is a question mark on the yearly graphs. The number of records declined until 1978-1980 when a large number of birds were seen.

From the records submitted, these increased numbers were probably not due to irruptive behaviour but an increase in the breeding population as most of the records occurred during the breeding season. After 1982, the number of records fell away until the large influx in autumn 1996 where birds were reported from 10 sites. Larger numbers of birds remained throughout that winter and again in the following year, 1997, larger than average numbers were reported in autumn from four sites (Pleinmont, Heritage Walk, Le Guet, Saumarez Park). This series of records shows periods of colonization and extinction and Coal Tits have yet to maintain more than a tenuous foothold as a breeding species in Guernsey.

In the 1970s and 1980s breeding was proved at Le Guet in 1970 and 1972, at Jerbourg in 1972, at Trinity Cottages (Pleinmont) in 1979, at the Heritage Walk in 1980 and a juvenile was seen in Saints in mid-July 1970. Several other attempts were undoubtedly made and pairs or singles have been seen in suitable habitat in other years. The table below shows sites where birds have been seen between the beginning of April and the end of July. There were birds spread across a wide variety of sites between 1970 and 1982 but the total breeding population was always been under ten pairs. After this birds were only present in one site per year and it is likely that the breeding population became extinct soon after. It was not until the 97/98 irruption that birds were again seen during the breeding season.