Andreas Tjernshaugen

The Secret Life of Small Birds

Tits have more secrets than we know.
Did you know that great tits that have grown up in a blue tits’ nest, often sing like blue tits? Or that the golden color on a tits chest comes from the same coloring as that which makes fall leaves yellow?
In The Secret Lives of Small Birds, we follow the great tit and the blue tit through an entire year. Andreas Tjernshaugen invites us into the tits wondrous world – from the bird feeder in the garden to the birdhouses scientists have set up in particular wooded areas. Here you can read about how the tits live and learn, how they choose their partner, how they survive the harsh winter and why they sing. And perhaps the tits are more similar to us than we think? Behavioral studies has uncovered that the personality varies from individual to individual, so even though the birds come from the same family they may still act in very different ways when experiencing the same situation.