Long tailed tit.............................Aegithalos caudatus
The long-tailed tit is easily recognisable with its distinctive colouring, a tail that is bigger than its body, and undulating flight. Gregarious and noisy residents, long-tailed tits are most usually noticed in small, excitable flocks of about 20 birds. Like most tits, they rove the woods and hedgerows, but are also seen on heaths and commons with suitable bushes.
 |
These little beauties have started to come quite regularly now in flocks of 3 to 6......... |
| Three in a row.......................... |  |
 |
They feed mostly on insects and their larvae, and spiders, but also on berries.Increasingly, Long-tailed Tits are feeding from peanut feeders and suet cake in gardens |
The Long-tailed Tit's nest is an elastic ball of moss, spiders' webs, lichen, feathers, and hair that is built by both birds in a bush, hedge or tree; brambles and gorse are favourite places. The nest may take up to 3 weeks to build and be lined with more than 2000 feathers.The female lays and incubates smooth and glossy eggs that are white with purplish-red spots, and are about 14 mm by 10 mm. Both adults feed the newly-hatched young, and are often assisted by other birds, especially males, that have failed to breed that season. |
 |
 |
You can clearly see the long tail here |
| here it is hanging on to the feeder |  |
Currently they are on the increase with about 270,000 in the U.k