Long-tailed Tit

Alternative name: Long-tailed Bushtit

Nominate A. c. caudatus
Photo by alex_2301
Moscow, Russia

Aegithalos caudatus

Identification

Length 13-16 cm, weight 6-10 g
Very often will give the impression of a small fluffy circular ball with a long tail attached; more than half its length constitutes its 6-10 cm tail. Black and rosy-beige to greyish above and white below, with rosy-beige to greyish flanks. It has a white crown but different subspecies differs in amount of black in head. The different subspecies also differ in tail length, with northern populations having longer tails. The bill is very short.

Subspecies A. c. rosaceus
Photo by Andy Bright
Hertfordshire, England

Juvenile/immature is darker and less glossy, lack rosy colours, and right after fledging, the tail is shorter.

Distribution

Europe and Asia but not in tropical areas.

Taxonomy

Silver-throated Tit was formerly included in this species.

Subspecies

Seventeen subspecies in four subspecies groups are recognised^[1]:

• A. c. caudatus group: white head; body black, white and bright pink. North of Europe and Asia.
  • A. c. caudatus: Scandinavia and northeastern Europe to Siberia, northern China, Korea and northern Japan
• A. c. europaeus group: head white with blackish eyebrows; body black, white and dull pink. Temperate Europe.
  • A. c. rosaceus: British Isles
  • A. c. aremoricus: western France, Channel Islands and Île d'Yeu
  • A. c. taiti: southern and southwestern France to northwestern Spain and Portugal
  • A. c. europaeus: eastern France and Germany to northern Italy, western Romania and northern Bulgaria
  • A. c. macedonicus: Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece and southern Bulgaria
  • A. c. tauricus: southern Crimean Peninsula
• A. c. alpinus group: head white with blackish eyebrows; body grey and dull white, little or no pink tones; tail shorter. Mediterranean region.
  • A. c. irbii: southern Spain, Portugal and Corsica
  • A. c. italiae: Mainland Italy and Yugoslavia
  • A. c. siculus: Sicily
  • A. c. tephronotus: Asia Minor
  • A. c. major: Caucasus to western and central Transcaucasia
  • A. c. alpinus: southeastern Azerbaijan to northern Iran and southwestern Turkmenistan
  • A. c. passekii: Zagros Mountains (sw Iran)
• A. c. trivirgatus group: head white with blackish eyebrows; body black, white and dull pink. East Asia.
  • A. c. magnus: southern Korea and Tsushima Island (Kamino-shima and Shimono-shima)
  • A. c. trivirgatus: central Japan (Honshu, Awa-shima, Sado and Oki); Cheju-do Island (Korea)
  • A. c. kiusiuensis: southern Japanese islands (Shikoku, Kyushu and Yakushima)

Habitat

Photo by Chocky
Exmouth, Devon, March 2011

Deciduous woodlands with undergrowth, scrub and other bushy habitats; also common in parks and gardens.

Also wetland reed beds

Behaviour

Flight

Flight is short, whirring bursts and drops. Looks like a bouncing ball of fluff with a tail. Usually in flocks playing follow-my-leader from one patch of cover to another.

Seldom stays still for long, flitting about within a bush, chasing insects.

Breeding

Woven nests containing spiders' webs and lichen are built in a tree or shrub. Up to a dozen eggs per clutch.

Diet

Diet includes insects, spiders and (mainly in winter) small seeds. Increasingly often visiting bird feeders in gardens, even in urban areas.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Aegithalos caudatus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Wikipedia
3. Beaman, M., Madge, S., & Olsen, K. M. (1998). Fuglene i Europa, Nordafrika og Mellemøsten. Copenhagen, Denmark: Gads Forlag, ISBN 87-12-02276-4

External Links

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