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Review Links Willow Tit Decline to Loss of Key Forest Habitat Features

Willow tit perched on a branch in Sweden
Conservation · Habitat protection

A 2026 review of willow tit (Poecile montanus) ecology concludes that several forest features repeatedly linked to survival and breeding success have been reduced by intensive forest management in Fennoscandia. The article, published in Ornis Svecica on 10 March, also examines whether habitat in Stockholm’s National City Park could again support breeding willow tits.

The review brings together research on understorey vegetation, standing dead and decaying wood, forest moisture, continuity of forest cover and old-growth forest. According to the author, the combined loss of these features can intensify population declines because they affect different parts of the species’ annual cycle and breeding ecology.

Decaying wood remains essential for nesting

Willow tits excavate their own nest cavities in soft, decaying wood. The review identifies a continuous supply of suitable standing dead wood as a fundamental habitat requirement, rather than simply the presence of dead wood at one point in time.

Dense understorey vegetation and moist forest conditions are also highlighted because they influence shelter, food availability and the structure of the habitat used by the birds. Forest continuity and old-growth characteristics can help maintain these features over longer periods.

A case study from Stockholm

The review includes a case study of the National City Park in Stockholm, where no breeding pairs of willow tits have been recorded for at least 30 years. The author identifies thinning and a shortage of suitable decaying wood as possible factors limiting the species’ return.

Proposed measures include expanding areas without thinning and retaining dead birch so that suitable nesting material remains available through time. At a broader scale, the review recommends reducing thinning intensity, maintaining continuous forest cover, protecting old-growth forest and restoring moist forest areas.

Sources and image credit

  1. Kling, C. (2026). The impact of habitat changes on the willow tit Poecile montanus and its potential for breeding in the National City Park (Stockholm). Ornis Svecica, 36, 13–44. https://doi.org/10.34080/os.v36.27703Primary open-access review article published 10 March 2026 under CC BY 4.0. The review identifies understorey, standing decaying wood, moisture, forest continuity and old-growth features as important to willow tits and includes a case study of Stockholm’s National City Park, where no breeding pair has been recorded for at least 30 years.

Image: Bengt Nyman — willow tit (Poecile montanus) in Sweden, photographed 22 March 2017; Wikimedia Commons / Flickr; representative species image, not a bird from the Stockholm case study · CC BY 2.0 · Source

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