Bird Album
Long-tailed Tit
Aegithalos caudatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
≈12 cmLength18 cmWingspan8.6 gWeight
It has a small, round body, a very long tail and mainly black-and-white plumage, and calls constantly in flocks.
Busiest months: January, March–April and October · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, Japan
Looks like Silver-throated Bushtit
How to identify
Field marks
- Very long, narrow tail
- Round body and short, stout bill
- Mainly black-and-white plumage with gray and pink
- Northern subspecies has an all-white head without a black supercilium
Male, female and young
Sexes identical; juvenile molts completely into adult plumage before its first winter.
Voice
Three main calls: a single high-pitched “pit”, a triple trill “eez-eez-eez”, and a rattling “schnuur”.
Similar species
Where and when it's recorded
Long-tailed Tit has been recorded at 1,376 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 58 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom4,938 records
- Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom3,806 records
- Beddington FarmlandsUnited Kingdom3,700 records
More places
- Txingudi – PlaiaundiSpain2,881 records
- Minsmere RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom2,880 records
- Walthamstow WetlandsUnited Kingdom2,868 records
- Rutland WaterUnited Kingdom2,497 records
- South Downs NP – Pulborough Brooks RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom2,366 records
- Attenborough Nature Centre and NWT NRUnited Kingdom2,278 records
- WWT London Wetland CentreUnited Kingdom2,072 records
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The long-tailed tit or long-tailed bushtit (Aegithalos caudatus) is a common bird species belonging to the bushtit family found throughout Eurasia. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous and mixed woodlands as well as scrub, heathland, farmland, parks and gardens.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Long-tailed Tit?
The Long-tailed Tit is about ≈12 cm long, with a wingspan of 18 cm and weighs around 8.6 g.
Where does the Long-tailed Tit live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: widespread. It is most often recorded in United Kingdom, Spain and Japan.
When is the best time to see the Long-tailed Tit?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January, March, April and October (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Long-tailed Tit endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Long-tailed Tit as Least Concern.
What does the Long-tailed Tit eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Long-tailed Tit in?
It belongs to the family Bushtits (Aegithalidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).
At a glance
- Length
- ≈12 cm
- Wingspan
- 18 cm
- Weight
- 8.6 g
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 63 mm
- Tail
- 88 mm
- Bill
- 8 mm
- Tarsus
- 16 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: widespread
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Passerines Passeriformes
- Family
- Bushtits Aegithalidae
- Genus
- Aegithalos
Other birds in the genus Aegithalos
Silver-throated BushtitAegithalos glaucogularis
White-cheeked BushtitAegithalos leucogenys
Pygmy BushtitAegithalos exilis
Black-throated BushtitAegithalos concinnus
White-throated BushtitAegithalos niveogularis
Rufous-fronted BushtitAegithalos iouschistos
Black-browed BushtitAegithalos bonvaloti
Sooty BushtitAegithalos fuliginosus
White-browed Tit-warblerLeptopoecile sophiae
Crested Tit-warblerLeptopoecile elegans
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Ігор Червоненко. ↗
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