Coal (scientific name: Parus ater), there are 21 subspecies. It is a small songbird that inhabits coniferous forests. The beak is short and blunt, slightly tapered; the nostrils are slightly covered by feathers; the wings are short and rounded; the tail is moderate, square or slightly rounded; the legs and feet are strong, and the claws are blunt. The plumage is soft and the male and female plumage are similar in color. Sexually active, he often jumps on branches, peels insects on the bark, or makes short flights between trees. Non-breeding periods like clusters. Nests are built in tree holes or crevices, each laying 5-12 eggs, which are incubated by the female for about 12 days and the parents brood for about 3 weeks. It is widely distributed in Asia, Europe and North Africa.
Coal are 11 centimeters long. The crown of the head, the side of the neck, the throat and the upper chest are black. The wings are distinguished by two white wing spots and large white spots on the back of the neck that distinguish them from brown-headed and swamp. The back is gray or olive grey, and the white abdomen is either yellow with or without skin. Most subspecies have pointed black crown feathers. It is distinguished from the large and the green-backed in that there is no black longitudinal stripe in the middle of the chest.
It inhabits secondary broad-leaved, broad-leaved and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests in the low and foothills below 300 m above sea level, but also in bamboo, plantation and coniferous forests, and sometimes to small bushes and bushes at the foot of the foothills and adjacent plains in winter to move and feed, and sometimes to orchards, roadside and groundside trees, trees in front of houses and in courtyards.
It is found in Armenia, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany; Greece, Hungary, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan.
The breeding season is from March to May, usually in natural tree holes, and sometimes in earth cliffs and rock crevices. The nest is cup-shaped, the outer wall is mainly composed of moss and pine, often mixed with lichen and fine grass stems, the inner wall is fine fibers and animal fluff, and the nest is cushioned with rabbit hair, rat hair, pig hair, cow hair and bird feathers. The nest is 1-8 m high from the ground, the opening of the nest is 2-7 cm, the inner diameter is 6-11 cm, and the depth is 11-38 cm. Male and female birds nest together, the female birds are the main ones, and each nest can be built in 10-11 days. The first litter begins to lay eggs as early as early May, mostly in mid-to-late May; the second litter mostly begins to lay eggs in late June and early July, sometimes while building nests. Each clutch lays 8-10 eggs, which are ovoid or oval, white, densely covered with reddish-brown spots, especially blunt ends. The average size of the eggs is 15-×12 mm, the average egg weight is 0.93 grams, and 1 egg is laid every day, most of the eggs are laid in the early morning, and the eggs begin to hatch after the eggs are laid, and some begin to incubate every other 1 day after the last egg is laid. The incubation of the eggs is undertaken by the female, who sits in the nest for 7-8 hours during the day and spends the night in the nest. The eggs are covered with hair when leaving the nest during the day, and sometimes males are seen entering the nest to feed the females who are incubating the eggs, and the incubation period is 13-14 days. The chicks are late in nature, the male and female parent birds breed their chicks together, the nesting period is 17-18 days, the young birds can leave the nest in mid-June, and they often flock to the nest for a few days after the nest, the parent birds still feed, and then the young birds peck on their own.