Family:
The Eurasian penduline tit is the only member of its family to be found outside Africa. It is a very small songbird with a distinctive black mask on its pale grey head. It has rust-coloured upperparts and pale brown underparts. The tail is black with white-edged feathers. It has a grey-cone shaped bill, dark brown eyes, and black legs and feet.
Penduline tits build some of the most elaborate nests of all European birds. It is pouch-like structure made from tightly woven plant fibres, hair, and wool that is suspended from the end of a branch, and with a tube-like entrance at the top. Both male and female build the nest but don’t stay together once the eggs are laid.
Try our interactive bird identifier
Penduline tits eat mainly the larvae of insects and spiders but in winter will supplement their diet with seeds, particularly willow, poplar, and reed. They forage by picking prey from twigs and bark.
Penduline tits are found across Europe and Asia. They breed from Denmark and western Russia to southern Europe and Turkey. Birds from the north of Europe winter in Spain, Morocco, Croatia, and the Middle East. They are found in vegetation and reedbeds near lakes, marshes, and swamps.
One Response
My bird app heard a penduline tit this morning 4.3. 25. In Cheddar Somerset