Long-tailed tit - Aegithalos caudatus - Family: Paridae/ Aegithalidae

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Long-tailed tit - Aegithalos caudatus
© Chris Gomersall

The resident long-tailed tit has a tiny, plump, fluffy body, an extremely long tail and a combination of black, cream and pink plumage. This bird has been described, memorably, as resembling a 'flying teaspoon'! The creamy-white head has a black stripe over the eye. Juveniles have shorter tails, browner plumage with dark cheeks and very little pink colour in the feathers. The flight is weak, undulating and restless. In winter, small parties can be seen foraging together moving through trees and scrub, often in association with other tits and sometimes goldcrests and treecreepers, all of them also insect-eaters. Its small size makes it vulnerable to cold weather and groups of birds, usually family parties, roost huddled tightly together for warmth.

Long-tailed tits make a rounded, oval nest which, remarkably, can contain several thousand feathers, held together with silk from spiders' webs. This is often low down in gorse, bramble, blackthorn or hawthorn. This bird is widespread in Britain and is becoming increasingly common in gardens during the autumn and winter. It is now a frequent visitor to bird tables and even peanut feeders. It almost never feeds on the ground.

This is quite a vocal species and individuals in groups call constantly to each other, to keep in touch. The notes are hard to characterise in words - a sort of buzzing 'tseet-seet-seet' comes close - but quite easily remembered and, once learned, often provide the first sign that the bird is in the vicinity.

Food

Mainly small insects, spiders and their larvae which live on buds, leaves, branches and twigs. Predator of bugs, froghoppers and leafhoppers, spiders and harvestmen, flies, thrips, beetles, weevils and sawflies.

Plants

Blackthorn, Bramble, Gorse, Silver birch

Prey

Aphids, Beetles, Bugs, Flies, Froghoppers and leafhoppers, Mosquitoes and midges, Sawflies, Spiders and harvestmen, Weevils

Predators

Sparrowhawk