The Long-tailed tit – Aegithalos caudatus

The Long-tailed tit comes from a different family to our more familiar Blue tit and Great tit. In fact it’s not really a tit at all and has more in common with a family of birds normally found in Asia and africa. Similar in size to a small Blue tit with a long tail and soft pink plumage this distinctive bird can often be found in small groups ranging from 4 to 20 individuals. They are the only bird to have such a combination of small bill, round body, and a long tail.

With around 300,000 breeding pairs in the UK you can spot these social and active birds all year round.

The Long-tailed tit can be found across the whole of the UK with the exception of the far north of Scotland and can be seen in woodland , hedgerows and parks.

During the breeding season which lasts late February to mid July, Long-tailed Tits form monogamous pairs, and raise a single brood of six to eight eggs in a woven closed nest, often concealed within a tree or shrub. The nest is held together with spider webs, camouflaged with lichen and lined with feathers. The chicks fledge at around 18 days. The fledgling Long-tailed tits have the same shape as adults but lack the pink colouring of the adult bird with darker faces and backs.

They’re social birds and often travel in tight family groups

They feed on tiny insects, spiders, and their eggs, including lava of any kind. Mainly feeding in the tree canopy, or top of shrubs, and rarely on the ground. During the short winter days the birds must feed almost continually, as the flocks make their way through woodland and hedgerows.

Average life expectancy for the Long-tailed tit is around two years , but ringed birds have been recorded living beyond eight years. The birds can often be found roosting tightly together but even so around half of all adults will die each year during the winter months.

Conservation Status

Classified as Green in the UK under birds of conservation concern , as with most wildlife in the UK the Long-tailed Tit is protected under the wildlife and countryside act , 1981.

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