3-11-2017 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - LONG TAILED TIT (Aegithalos caudatus)

The Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) is a common bird found throughout Europe and the Palearctic. The genus name Aegithalos was a term used by Aristotle for some European tits, including the Long-tailed tit.

The Long-tailed tit is a round-bodied tit with a short, stubby bill and a very long, narrow tail. The male and the female look the same and young birds undergo a complete molt to adult plumage before the first winter. The plumage is mainly black and white, with variable amounts of grey and pink.

Long-tailed tits are globally widespread throughout northern Europe and the Palearctic, into boreal Scandinavia, and south into the Mediterranean zone. These birds don't migrate and inhabit deciduous and mixed woodland with a well-developed shrub layer, favoring edge habitats. They can also be found in scrub, heathland with scattered trees, bushes, and hedges, farmland and riverine woodland, parks, and gardens.

Long-tailed tits are social birds. From July to February, the non-breeding season, they form flocks of relatives and non-relatives, roosting communally. When the breeding season begins, the flocks break up, and the birds attempt to breed in pairs. Males remain within the winter territory, while females usually wander to neighboring territories. At the end of the breeding season, in June and July, the birds reform the winter flocks in their winter territory. Long-tailed tits are diurnal energetic and noisy. When in flocks they issue constant contact calls and are often heard before they are seen. They have three main calls, a single high-pitched 'pit', a ‘triple trill’ eez-eez-eez, and a rattling 'schnuur'. The calls become faster and louder when the birds cross open ground or if an individual becomes separated from the group.

Long-tailed tits are monogamous and form long-lasting pair bonds. Their breeding season starts in late February and early March. Pairs construct their nest from four materials: lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons, and moss, with over 6,000 pieces used for a typical nest. The nest is a flexible sac with a small, round entrance on top, suspended either low in a gorse or bramble bush or high up in the forks of tree branches. The structural stability of the nest is provided by a mesh of moss and spider silk. The tiny leaves of the moss act as hooks and the spider silk of egg cocoons provides the loops; thus forming a natural form of velcro. The tit lines the outside with hundreds of flakes of pale lichens - this provides camouflage. Inside, it lines the nest with more than 2,000 downy feathers to insulate the nest. The female lays 6 to 8 eggs and incubates them between 2 and 3 weeks. The chicks are altricial (helpless) when they hatch and both parents feed them for 2 weeks until they fledge. Due to high predation, there is a high nest failure rate. If nest failure occurs after the beginning of May, the pair will not try to re-nest but may become helpers at a nest of another, usually related, pair. They will help to feed and raise a brood.