• The great tit does not store food for winter, but readily searches for and eats stored food of other tit species.
• This is one of the few birds capable of using tools to obtain food from hard-to-reach places.

The great tit’s diet consists of insects and spiders in summer, and seeds and berries in winter; the species is beneficial because it consumes pests of forests and gardens. It forages for food on branches, trunks, and in the air, employing an active hunting strategy to search for and obtain sustenance. The great tit’s food includes caterpillars, spiders, beetles, seeds, berries, coniferous cones, an insect, and a plant. Specific prey items include beetles, flies, Hymenoptera, butterflies, bedbugs, Orthoptera, dragonflies, mayflies, and lacewings. Daily food consumption ranges from 6 grams to 12 grams.