One day, I had a great idea. I composed the introductory paragraph for an Entry in my head, then wrote it down. I sat down to finish the Entry a few days later. It was only when I was adding h2g2 links that I discovered there was already an Entry in the Edited Guide on the topic... A rookie mistake, but never mind - at least I enjoyed the experience.

There are plenty of other topics that are not yet covered in the Edited Guide so if you feel like writing about your hobbies, your local area or any other topic that Earth-bound Galactic Hitchhikers would need to know about, it would be great to see you over in Peer Review!

Great Tits - the Birds, not the Internet Search

Great Tits are not the easiest birds to search for on the internet, because 'tit' is slang for 'breast'. People are interested in great ones, but the Great Tits amd their cousins, including Blue Tits and Marsh Tits, are of less interest to those of a non-ornithological persuasion. However, it is worth learning more about Great Tits as they are a common sight in many places around the world. Their plumage is distinctive, having a black head, white cheeks, a yellow breast with a black stripe down it, and blue-grey wingtips and tail. Their ‘teacher, teacher’ song is loud and clear so you can tell when one is nearby.

The Great Tit (Parus major) can be found across Europe, South Asia and North Africa. These birds do not tend to travel far from the place where they hatched. However, they may need to go further afield in search of food if competition in the local area is too fierce. They are classed as Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List and the population has been increasing in recent years. They are food for predators such as birds of prey and cats. However, they are a common sight in gardens - they eat insects but will also perch on bird-feeders to eat seeds, nuts or fatballs to ensure they are well-prepared for winter and the breeding season.

Great Tits build nests in trees, making use of natural holes. They will also use nestboxes. The female lays up to nine eggs and incubates them for about 14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents for three to four weeks, but they fledge and leave the nest after about 18 days. Juvenile Great Tits look similar to the adults,but their cheeks are yellow and the black stripe on their breast is thinner. The oldest Great Tit known to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) was 15 years old.

There is another bird in the genus Parus - the Green-backed Tit (Parus monticolus). It is only found in South Asia, along the Himalayas and in China. It is similar in colour to the Great Tit but, as its name suggests, its back contains more green feathers than that of the Great Tit.