Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus

Where is it found?
Woodlands. urban parks and gardens, hedgerows.

Diet and foraging method

Picking insects from vegetation

Key adaptations

Long-tail to help stabilise them during their characteristic undulating flight. Allows them to be quick and agile on the wing.

Social organisation and mating system

Picture
Flock
Breeding
Pair up and are monogamous but if their nesting attempt fails, individuals will often cooperatively breed with helpers who help to rear chicks that aren't their own.

Did you know that...?

The Long-tailed Tit makes a complex nest out of lichen and feathers. They also weave spider webs into them to make them elastic so they can stretch as the chicks grow. Some nests can have as many as 2000 feathers woven into them!

Taxonomy

Picture

Picture credits:

Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Aegithalos caudatus 1 (Marek Szczepanek)". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aegithalos_caudatus_1_(Marek_Szczepanek).jpg#/media/File:Aegithalos_caudatus_1_(Marek_Szczepanek).jpg
"Aegithalos caudatus front-on" by © Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aegithalos_caudatus_front-on.jpg#/media/File:Aegithalos_caudatus_front-on.jpg
"AcredulaSiculaGronvold" by Henrik Grönvold - Ibis 1902. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AcredulaSiculaGronvold.jpg#/media/File:AcredulaSiculaGronvold.jpg