![By David Friel from Telford, England (Long-tailed Tit #1) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://markavery.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/800px-Aegithalos_caudatus_Apley_1.jpg)
I go through the list in systematic order ticking off the usual mute swan, greylag and Canada geese, followed by a bunch of ducks. Then there might be a pheasant and even sometimes a red-legged partridge. Cormorants, herons and then the grebes . Yes, this order is a bit different from what I grew up with, when I was used to the divers and grebes being the stupid birds at the front of the list but the changes aren’t that dramatic and don’t discomfort me much.
However! However, as we get into the passerines I am likely to put a tick against Cetti’s warbler as it is a common species here at Stanwick and a bird that announces itself with its loud song which starts with a sneeze and then chatters on a bit. I have only seen Cetti’s warbler at Stanwick once or twice but have heard it on scores and scores of occasions. And very pleased I am each time I do hear it.
So having got to the warblers I am either ready to skip them all (sometimes with the exception of chiffchaff and very rarely blackcap) if it is winter or to tick off several more whitethroats, garden warblers, sedge warblers etc if it is high summer. But no – immediately after Cetti’s warbler, and before the rest of the warblers, is a species that doesn’t look like a warbler, sound like a warbler, feed like a warbler (well, a bit), fly like a warbler or bring warbler to mind in any way at all; the long-tailed tit.
I love long-tailed tits – there is nothing wrong with long-tailed tits, and I am always pleased when I can tick them off too. But it always brings me up short that this stubby-beaked little cutie is nestling in amongst the warblers – or at least between the warblers and the Cetti’s warbler.
I’m not arguing about it, because I am sure there are drawers full of data which prove this to be right but it always disconcerts me. And that’s good. Non-scientists, sometimes relatives in my experience, when confronted with a scientific finding are quite quick either to say ‘Well I could have told you that’ or ‘Well I don’t believe that’. I’ll live with it and assume that science, involving DNA sequencing, I guess, is better at telling the evolutionary relationships between species than the Avery eye. Check out the full list here.
But this did make me look at the genus Aegithalos which is that of the long-tailed tit; it’s a 7-species genus, the rest of whose members live in Asia. I’m glad the long-tailed tit sneaked west to be a familiar part of my birding scene, it’s a lovely little bird. Although take a look at the black-throated bushtit – I’d love to see that down at Stanwick Lakes now and again.
![By Robert tdc (originally posted to Flickr as Red-headed Tit) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://markavery.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/800px-Black-throated_Tit_Aegithalos_concinnus_-on_branch.jpg)
Fabulous little birds. For something that I see virtually every day they still always strike me as somehow exotic and they have an undeniable charm.
Mark, – they’re one of my favourite birds too. Had about ten of them visiting several times a day (the same ten? Dunno.) during Jan, Feb and first half of March. Then numbers fell off dramatically until I was seeing only one or two a day. Yes, it was odd to see just one on its own a few times, I actually thought it had got separated from the rest of the flock. But now, what’s today, 4th April? I haven’t seen any this month so far. Question is, did the cold snap kill (most of) them off, or have they headed off to begin nesting? I know they nest earlier than most, but I’m not aware that birds have started nesting yet this spring.
Coilin MacLochlainn
Colin, I have had very similar experience to you in my garden and was wondering the same as you but there seems to be plenty of “lotti” nests been found according to the experienced guys on the BTO’s Nest Record Scheme ” forum. Being a novice at finding any nests I’ll be very lucky to find one though.
No sign of Chiffchaffs on my local patch which I am finding very disconcerting.
Long-tailed Tits should all be in pairs by now and beginning nest building. We have a pair visiting our garden feeders and mostly on the fat balls which are obviously a nesting pair. The nest of this species is one of the most beautiful structures of any bird and made from mosses, lichens and woven together with cobwebs. It is in the form of a dome and perched well above the ground in a bush or hedge. They are a super bird to have in the garden with all the other birds.
we’ve still got a family party (yesterday). But then we still have snow coming down, and an icy wind!
One day on a walk to our local fishing lakes I was going down a footpath that is just about totally covered by bushes and trees each side and over the top as well so it is more like a tunnel and about 300 metres long.Half way along in a bush were about 10 L T Ts all buzzing around ignoring me completely.I was spellbound and just stood there quiet thinking I could reach out and touch them they were so close.Must have been several minutes before they moved off giving me a memory that is simply unforgettable.
Agree with you Mark and Jonathan that “tits on sticks” are among our most wonderful birds. The ringing calls of their family parties followed by the sight of them moving through the trees are an absolute delight.
It is a concern that as the cold conditions continue are our little l-t-ts, wrens, goldcrests et al really suffering. Standard compassion at the thought of small and beautiful creatures slowly starving and chilling to death is tempered by the knowledge that nature is as harsh as it is beautiful (see previous blog on sparrowhawks killing and eating things, great tits attacking and killing redpolls etc.). We also know that after previous very harsh winters and huge population crashes the little birds bounce back.
But with a ravaged countryside where biodiversity is slipping through our fingers like sand, are our small bird (and indeed any bird) populations still able to withstand these natural shocks? Then add in the potential scenario of melting polar ice weakening the thermohaline (“gulf stream”) and giving us more frequent cold winters and cool very wet nesting seasons and the frequency natural shocks could grow too.
I guess we’ll have the papers on the studies on the effects of this coldest of Marches written up and published in, say, five years time and we’ll know some of the answers from comparative studies a few years on from that. I know it’s an irony that’s a little too much for some readers of (and indeed writers for) the Daily Express to fathom, but could anthropogenic warming actually cause such a chill that our bird populations can never spring back?
I defy anyone to look at a Long Tailed Tit and not smile. They are truly fantastic little birds and the nests are breathtakingly beautiful. I must try and find one this spring so show my daughter.
The coldest average March temperatures since 1910
1 1962 – 1.9 °C
2= 2013 – 2.2 °C
2= 1947 – 2.2 °C
4 1937 – 2.4 °C
5 1916 – 2.5 °C
“such a chill that our bird populations can never spring back”
They have managed it before