The Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) is a tiny ball of a bird with an extremely long tail, moving through woodland edges in restless flocks; northern populations are entirely white-headed, making them among Sweden's most sought-after photographic subjects. It is the sole European member of its family, remarkably small, with a tail making up more than half its body length — 13–15 cm overall, of which 7–9 cm is tail, with a wingspan of 16–19 cm and a weight of just 7–10 grams. The body is round and ball-like, the back pinkish-brown, and while the northern race caudatus has an entirely white head, birds further south show black eyebrow bands.
The species is usually heard before it is seen, the flock keeping in constant contact with a thin, wheezy "tsrii-tsrii-tsrii" and a short, chattering "tupp-tupp-tupp" — its most reliable field marks, since the birds often stay hidden in foliage; it has no true song, only a subdued mix of the same calls during the breeding season. Found throughout Sweden except on the alpine tundra, with a population of 100,000–200,000 pairs that is increasing, it favours deciduous woodland, scrubland, gardens and field edges, and is resident year-round. Breeding starts early, with nest-building from March and eggs laid in April; the female lays 8–12 eggs, usually raising one brood, and the species shows cooperative breeding, in which pairs that fail with their own nest often help feed relatives' young. The nest itself is one of the most elaborate in the bird world — an enclosed, egg-shaped structure of moss and lichen bound with spider silk, lined with up to 2,000 feathers and built over several weeks in a dense bush. It feeds mainly on tiny insects, spiders and aphids gleaned from the outermost twigs, often hanging upside down to do so, and increasingly visits bird feeders for suet in winter, when family flocks of 6–20 birds huddle together at night for warmth.
Read about this species in Swedish →