The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Consistently among the top three birds I encounter are Great Tits. And it's not just because of the feeder outside my window, where they've practically obtained permanent residency. I also walk in the city park quite often — and there is truly no shortage of tits there, of many different species.

But if we're talking about the most common one in these parts, it's definitely the Great Tit.

It seems to me that they all have distinct personalities, despite their rather classic appearance. At least in terms of behavior. Some of them, unlike most of their kin, act noticeably bolder, cheekier — sometimes even openly provocative. Perhaps I'm just imagining it. But I like to think that I really do notice the difference.

This is a story about three tits. Of course, they were shot in different places and at different times, but I remember them precisely because of their behavior.

I dubbed the first one The Good.

She would fly up to the feeder, quietly pull out sunflower seeds — one at a time — never made a fuss, and allowed me to frame her from quite close. In short, she behaved perfectly well. One might even say, with a certain elegance.

I called the second one The Bad.

In fact, she didn't do anything bad at all, but her behavior seemed rather suspicious. During my walk, she simply followed me, hopping from branch to branch — silently, and never coming too close. At some point I managed to capture her, and it seemed to me that she was somehow mocking me. Smirking quietly into her little beak.

And the third tit — well, that's a story of its own. The Ugly.

I shot her on the perch of a nest box. I don't know whether it was her home or someone else's. But she looked completely intimidating: ruffled feathers, missing patches of plumage, some broken talons. Her whole posture seemed to express a complete readiness to attack. And that look… my hands were actually trembling a little when I took the shot.

So that's the story of three tits, inspired by a famous film. The quotes under the photos, by the way, really do belong to the characters of that movie — although I took some creative liberties.

Thank you for stopping by! 🤠

Southern Urals, Russia.
2022-2025.
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