Coal Tit

Coal Tit

Periparus ater

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Valencia, Spain

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%

146 Verified sightings at Valencia, Spain
12,765 In all 29 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Coal Tit

The coal tit (Periparus ater) is a passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in forests throughout the temperate to subtropical Palearctic, including North Africa. The black-crested tit is now included in this species.

This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Linnaeus' primary reference was his earlier Fauna Svecica, whose pre-binomial name Parus capite nigro: vertice albo, dorso cinereo, pectore albo ("black-headed tit with white nape, ash-grey back, white breast") became Parus ater. This name – meaning "dusky-black tit" – was simply adopted from older ornithological textbooks, ultimately going back to Conrad Gessner's 1555 Historia animalium. He gave no type locality except "Europe", but his original description refers to the population inhabiting Sweden (which is consequently included in the nominate subspecies today). The current genus name, is Ancient Greek peri plus the pre-existing genus Parus. The specific ater is Latin for "dull black".

The coal tit is placed in the genus Periparus, which was formerly widely considered a subgenus of Parus... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:22

Netherlands · 2026

© Joost van Bruggen · XC1136240 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:54

Spain · 2026

© Jacobo Ramil Millarengo · XC1087602 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Duet0:18

Italy · 2025

© Gianluca Congi · XC1005219 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tatra National Park 🇸🇰 Slovakia
~70%
2 Hohe Tauern National Park 🇦🇹 Austria
~70%
3 Cairngorms National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~70%
4 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~70%
5 Nikko National Park 🇯🇵 Japan
~60%
6 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~60%
7 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~60%
8 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~50%
9 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~50%
10 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~50%
11 Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~50%
12 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~40%
13 Plitvice Lakes National Park 🇭🇷 Croatia
~40%
14 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~40%
15 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~40%
16 Picos de Europa National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~30%
17 Jiuzhaigou National Park 🇨🇳 China
~30%
18 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~30%
19 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
20 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~30%
21 Langtang National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~30%
22 Snowdonia National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~20%
23 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~20%
24 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
<5%
25 Kiskunság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
26 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%
27 Hortobágy National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
28 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
29 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sapporo 🇯🇵 Japan
~50%
2 Madrid 🇪🇸 Spain
~50%
3 Manchester 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~40%
4 Ankara 🇹🇷 Turkey
~40%
5 Porto 🇵🇹 Portugal
~40%
6 Lisbon 🇵🇹 Portugal
~30%
7 Dublin 🇮🇪 Ireland
~30%
8 Busan 🇰🇷 South Korea
~30%
9 Birmingham 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~20%
10 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Beijing Wildlife Park 🇨🇳 China In captivity
2 Ueno Zoo 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Coal Tit in Valencia, Spain?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coal Tit sighting in Valencia, Spain on a given day, based on 146 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 52nd most-seen of the 129 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Coal Tit in Valencia, Spain?

March–April, June–July and September–January

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coal Tit in Valencia, Spain on a given day, against under 5% in February, May and August, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Coal Tit?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Coal Tit sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Valencia, Spain the best place to see a Coal Tit?

37th of 66

Of the 66 cities where we can rate Coal Tit sightings, Valencia, Spain ranks 37th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sapporo (Japan, about 50%), Madrid (Spain, about 50%) and Manchester (United Kingdom, about 40%).

Which relatives of the Coal Tit live in Valencia, Spain?

Same family: Paridae

The closest relatives of the Coal Tit that you can see in Valencia, Spain (family Paridae, Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice) are Great Tit (about 50%) and Crested Tit (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Coal Tit sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Coal Tit is recorded against all the birds logged in Valencia, Spain (146 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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