From Opus

Alternative name: White-cheeked Bushtit

Aegithalos leucogenys

Identification

11cm

• Typical shape of a long-tailed tit
• Medium-long tail
• Black bib and white cheek patch
• Forehead and crown cinnamon-brown
• Upperparts greyish-olive
• Breast and flanks pale pinkish-buff

Juveniles are paler and greyer overall and have a whitish forecrown.

Distribution

Found in northeast Afghanistan and in Pakistan. Records from India seem doubtful.
Locally common.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

Habitat

Open dry scrubby forest, tamarisk bushes and thorn scrub.

Behaviour

Feeds on inscects and spiders. Forages in flocks but is not as gregarious as other long-tailed tits.
Breeding season from March to May. The nest, an upright oval ball, is woven from grass, moss and vegetable fibres, bound with spider web and lined with feathers. It's placed in a bush some 1 to 3.5 m above the ground. 5 to 8 white eggs are laid.
Resident species with some altitudinal movement.

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