Compared with the Blue Tit, a bigger, heavier, bolder bird, marked by vivid white cheeks on a blue-black head and a long, dark stripe down the centre of the yellow chest; spring song is a strident, simple repetition of two notes.

The largest and boldest of the tits, the Great Tit is not so common as the Blue Tit in most gardens, nor in the mixed bands of birds that wander in search of food in winter.