Aegithalos caudatus - Long-tailed Tit

A shy bird of hedgerows and copses, the long-tailed tit is a very social bird. At times in winter you will see and hear colonies of two or three dozen of these tiny tits, with their disproportionately long white-edged tails, working their way along the edge of a wood, searching for insects. They are noisy, energetic birds.

The pink-tinged body of this pretty little bird has a fluffy, somewhat untidy appearance. (There is a northern race of long-tailed tits with all-white heads.)

Long-tailed tits build their nests in bushes, using moss, wool, feathers and spiders' webs to create a deep dome with a tiny side entrance. As many as two thousand individual feathers have been counted from one long-tailed tit nest.

A dozen chicks is a typical brood. Early nests, built before the leaves are fully out, are often robbed by jays and magpies.

Insects are the main source of food for these resident titmice.

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