LONG-TAILED TIT

THIS delightful little pinkish bird shaped like a lollipop, with a rotund body and long stick tail, builds a very delicate and intricate oval-shaped nest of moss, hair and cobwebs in a shrub or fork of a tree.

Given it takes up to three weeks to construct, pairs need to start early, and so can be seen hard at work in February. The structure is stretchy to accommodate a large and growing brood of young and the cosy lining is made up of hundreds of feathers.

However, once complete there is a gap before they begin laying their eggs, generally in March and April. Long-term studies show that they now lay their eggs a couple of weeks earlier than they did in the 1960s.

Despite being well camouflaged, typically covered with lichen, the nests are frequently predated and adults, in particular males, who fail to raise young may instead help to feed the broods of neighbouring pairs.