David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
______________________________________________________________________________________________________Birds 207 – Long-tailed Tits
LONG-TAILED
TITS Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
LONG-TAILED
TIT Aegithalos caudatus
·
The tiny Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos
caudatus is one of the most charming and
animated of British birds. So little concern is shown about the presence of
human observers that it is possible to stand in the middle of a wintering flock
and watch them feeding from very close range. As may be seen from some of these
photographs fat-balls are very popular! During the spring these birds build
extraordinarily intricate nests and once again close observation can be very
rewarding as a pair will tirelessly collect sufficient material in the form of
lichens, cobwebs, feathers and other useful contributions to a structure that
will usually be built in the middle of a secure bramble or other thorn bush.
The nest needs to be extremely flexible as Long-tailed Tits produce large
broods (to compensate for probably high mortality) and once the youngsters have
hatched it is required to contain them as they move about inside. Therefore
small bulges may occasionally be seen as they wriggle around and make contact
with the inside of the nest wall. The photographer has been able to confirm the
contribution of an extra adult bird towards feeding the chicks of a pair that
he had been watching. The additional ‘parent’ is likely to have lost a brood of
its own and it may have been related to one of the parent birds. Having been so
dispossessed it therefore performed an extremely useful role by providing the
chicks in the successful nest with additional food and gave them a better
chance of survival. Unfortunately a fleeting opportunity to photograph all
three adults in the same frame was missed.
·
David has posted three short films of Long-tailed Tits on YouTube
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEt1tUVnH8U&list=PL4AirIEc0NodqeZdtp_567wjjG7S6vPGy&index=2&t=0s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gUbFEpaAgk&list=PL4AirIEc0NodqeZdtp_567wjjG7S6vPGy&index=102&t=0s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aZT8cFxLhg&list=PL4AirIEc0NodqeZdtp_567wjjG7S6vPGy&index=172&t=0s.
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