Short Description
The long-tailed tit is small and round-bodied. Its strikingly long black tail accounts for more than half of its body length. Its underparts and head are white in contrast with the black-and-white wing and back parts. The shoulder area is set off with a brown colour.
Features
Long-tailed tit
Aegithalos caudatus
strikingly long black tail
Rufe
Frommolt, CC BY-SA 3.0
In the city
Long-tailed tits like to live in urban green spaces such as cemeteries, parks as well as overgrown gardens with a large proportion of shrubs and bushes.
In winter, long-tailed tits like to visit bird feeders for additional food. This good supply of food is one reason for the increasing numbers of garden-dwelling long-tailed tits.
Fun Facts
Long-tailed tits can breed cooperatively, i.e. relatives occasionally help each other with nest building and raising of the young.
Long-tailed tits owe their name to the long tails that allow them to balance with great accuracy on the outer end of thin twigs in their search for food.
They hibernate in Germany.
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
Sources
Habitus , Alastair Rae, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aegithalos_caudatus_-Mongolia_-perching-8.jpg
Habitus , Sławek Staszczuk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aegithalos_caudatus.jpg
Habitus , Vogelartinfo, GFDL-1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aegithalos_caudatus_vogelartinfo_chris_romeiks_R7F2607.jpg
Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.
Page „Schwanzmeise“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 14.01.2016, 16:31 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schwanzmeise&oldid=150213489 (Accessed: 10.02.2016).
NABU – Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (n.d.) Stunde der Wintervögel. Die Schwanzmeise, URL: https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/aktionen-und-projekte/stunde-der-wintervoegel/vogelportraets/13056.html (Accessed: 11.04.2016).
Artenfinder (2016) Aegithalos caudatus (Schwanzmeise), URL: https://arteninfo.net/elearning/voegel/speciesportrait/3127 (Accessed: 11.04.2016).