Eurasian long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus rosaceus (protonym, Parus caudatus), also known as the (Eurasian) long-tailed bushtit, photographed whilst ringing by the Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society (under license) at Marton, Cheshire, England.
Image: Roy Hill, 11 September 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize].
Canon EOS 5D mark II. 135mm f/2L ISO200. Processed via Adobe's Lightroom
Question: This pretty little English mystery bird shows an interesting behaviour if its nest fails. What behaviour is that? Can you identify this species?
Response: This is an Eurasian long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus, a tiny songbird that is placed into the family, Aegithalidae. This insectivorous bird is commonly found in deciduous forests, particularly those with dense scrub. Even though this species typically build their nests from lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss in thorny bushes, they have a very low success rate per nesting attempt of just 17%. Pairs whose nests fail will then make one of three choices: try again, abandon nesting for the season or split up and help at the nests of male relatives [doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1598 & doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0398].
Here's a video of a nesting pair of long-tailed tits (filmed in March 2010 at RSPB's Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex, England):
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.
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