Long-tailed Tit

This is one of our smallest birds. Due to its size it is susceptible to protracted cold spells, which is one reason why it roosts in flocks tightly packed together to maintain heat. It is unusual to see a single long-tailed tit for they are gregarious and travel in cheery parties, emitting distinctive calls as they land to feed on tiny insects and seeds, or garden peanut feeders. From a distance these flocks resemble flying spoons. A long-tailed tit’s nest is a work of art, a bottle shape exquisitely woven with spiders’ webs, verdant mosses, lichens and feathers. Another endearing feature of this charming bird is the way an unpaired bird may help to raise the large brood of its relations. The bird’s rounded shape and also its nest shape, has given rise to names including mufflin, fuffit, Jack in a bottle, bottle tit and bell ringer.