Crested Tit

Crested Tit

Lophophanes cristatus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Vienna

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

27 Verified sightings at Vienna
6,229 In all 21 parks From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Crested Tit

The crested tit or European crested tit (Lophophanes cristatus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and northern Europe and in deciduous woodland in France and the Iberian Peninsula. In Great Britain, it is mainly restricted to the ancient pinewoods of Inverness and Strathspey in Scotland, and rarely strays far from its haunts. A few vagrant crested tits have been seen in England. It is resident, and most individuals do not migrate.

The crested tit was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Parus cristatus. Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe, but this was restricted to Sweden by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1905. The crested tit is now placed together with grey-crested tit in the genus Lophophanes that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup. The current genus name, Lophophanes, is from the Ancient Greek lophos, "crest", and

phaino, "to show". The specific cristatus is Latin for "crested". This species was formerly placed in Parus... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:43

France · 2026

© Louis-Marie Gourmelon · XC1149841 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:45

Spain · 2026

© Jacobo Ramil Millarengo · XC1082461 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:48

France · 2023

© Thierry THOMAS · XC844213 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~50%
2 Tatra National Park 🇸🇰 Slovakia
~40%
3 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~40%
4 Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~40%
5 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~30%
6 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~30%
7 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~30%
8 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
9 Cairngorms National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~30%
10 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
11 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
12 Hohe Tauern National Park 🇦🇹 Austria
~20%
13 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
14 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~20%
15 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~20%
16 Picos de Europa National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
17 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~10%
18 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
~10%
19 Doñana National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
20 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
21 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Barcelona 🇪🇸 Spain
~20%
2 Valencia 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
3 Kyiv 🇺🇦 Ukraine
~10%
4 Paris 🇫🇷 France
~10%
5 Madrid 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
6 Lyon 🇫🇷 France
~10%
7 Yekaterinburg 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
8 Stockholm 🇸🇪 Sweden
<5%
9 Brussels 🇧🇪 Belgium
<5%
10 Minsk 🇧🇾 Belarus
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Dresden Zoo 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
2 Alpenzoo Innsbruck 🇦🇹 Austria In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Crested Tit in Vienna?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Tit sighting in Vienna on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 92nd most-seen of the 126 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Crested Tit in Vienna?

October

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Tit in Vienna on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, the lowest months.

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

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crested 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 Vienna the best place to see a Crested Tit?

13th of 21

Of the 21 cities where we can rate Crested Tit sightings, Vienna ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Barcelona (Spain, about 20%), Valencia (Spain, about 10%) and Kyiv (Ukraine, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Crested Tit live in Vienna?

Same family: Paridae

The closest relatives of the Crested Tit that you can see in Vienna (family Paridae, Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice) are Great Tit (about 90%), Blue Tit (about 80%) and Marsh Tit (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Crested Tit sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Crested Tit is recorded against all the birds logged in Vienna (27 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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