Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos caudatus

The Long-tailed Tit is easily recognisable with its distinctive colouring, a tail that is bigger than its body, and undulating flight. Gregarious and noisy residents, Long-tailed Tits are most usually noticed in small, excitable flocks of about 20 birds. Like most tits, they rove the woods and hedgerows, but are also seen on heaths and commons with suitable bushes.

They can be seen in woodland, farmland hedgerows, scrubland, parkland and gardens. In winter they form flocks with other tit species

All year round

During the breeding season (late February to July), Long-tailed Tits form monogamous pairs and raise a single brood of six to twelve eggs in a woven closed nest, often concealed within a tree or shrub. The nest is held together with spider webs, camouflaged with lichen and lined with feathers.

Found commonly across the UK except for the far north and west of Scotland.

A common breeding bird in Leicestershire and Rutland