# Marsh tit (*Poecile palustris*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/marsh-tit  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The marsh tit (Poecile palustris) is a bird in the family Paridae and order Passeriformes, part of the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 11.14 g, up to 11.9 g, and a wingspan of 19 cm. The marsh tit is an invertivore at the omnivore trophic level; it lives in forest habitat, has a perching lifestyle and is sedentary. It lays 8 eggs per clutch with 1 clutch per year, the eggs are incubated for 14 days, and the species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 11.1 g – 11.9 g |
| Length | 12 cm |
| Wingspan | 19 cm |
| Lifespan | 11.9 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 14 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 7.1 – 8 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Paridae
- genus: Poecile
- species: *Poecile palustris* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Parus palustris*

## Common questions

### How heavy is a marsh tit?

An adult Marsh tit has a body mass of 11.14 g, with values up to 11.9 g reported. Its wingspan is 19 cm.

### What does the marsh tit eat?

The marsh tit is classed as an invertivore, with a trophic level of omnivore.

### What habitat does the marsh tit live in?

The marsh tit lives in forest habitat, has a perching lifestyle and is sedentary.

### Is the marsh tit endangered?

No. The marsh tit is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a marsh tit live?

The marsh tit has a lifespan of 11.9 years, with values up to 11.92 years reported.

### How many eggs does a marsh tit lay?

The marsh tit lays 8 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 14 days.

### When does a marsh tit reach sexual maturity?

The marsh tit reaches sexual maturity at 364.6 days, with reported values from 364.2 to 365 days (1 year).

### Who named the marsh tit?

The marsh tit, Poecile palustris, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Marsh tit (Poecile palustris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/marsh-tit