Long-tailed song bird?

Amoeba · #1 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 06:54 PM

My inexperience shows!

Yeah I was out with my boyfreind after college today just to soak up the last rays of heat from the sun as we walked past a bunch of these plants that we don't know the name of (they're quite nice actually and we don't ever see them anywhere else, they produce black papery bean pods). There were LOTS of small birds, some that could be seen, others could only be heard.

Then I noticed two flitter into a tree near by. It had a tiny body and a long tail. Definitely not a pied wagtail, too small and definitely not a long-tailed tit - too big and too dark.

I couldn't see its exact colours though so I can't ID it accurately. I don't know of any other long-tailed small song birds, and unfortunately these two were silent so I can't even describe the song.

Jason Green · #2 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 07:28 PM

What part of the UK was this, did it call much?

Welcome to WAB, by the way!

Amoeba · #3 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 07:29 PM

Thanks for the welcome, though I've been lurking here for a loooooooong time.

It was Edinburgh, and no, as I said it didn't make a sound.

GlendaleGuy · #4 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 07:32 PM

Sounds like you encountered either a flock of long-tailed tits or a mixed roving tit flock. They move around in sometimes very large numbers in winter. Can you describe the calls that you were hearing?

Amoeba · #5 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amoeba

Then I noticed two flitter into a tree near by. It had a tiny body and a long tail. Definitely not a pied wagtail, too small and definitely not a long-tailed tit - too big and too dark.

I couldn't see its exact colours though so I can't ID it accurately. I don't know of any other long-tailed small song birds, and unfortunately these two were silent so I can't even describe the song.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amoeba

Thanks for the welcome, though I've been lurking here for a loooooooong time.

It was Edinburgh, and no, as I said it didn't make a sound.

Sorry but I did say it twice!

Yeah I was unsure about it being a long tailed tit since it was dark in colour (though they could have been juveniles) but they definitely weren't any other kind of tit. Their tail was about 1 and a half times their body length.

Dae · #6 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 08:02 PM

I don't think there's any other small bird in the UK that can fit that description other than long-tailed tits. Perhaps because they were in bushes, they appeared darker than they otherwise would.

I've heard our long-tailed tits making a lot of noise recently, though I don't know what kind of song (if any) they make.

GlendaleGuy · #7 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 08:05 PM

Sorry Amoeba, you said that there were a group of birds in the plants and two flew into a tree but they were silent. I was enquiring about the bird sounds that you said that you heard, as if they were tits it is likely that there were other birds of the same species in the group. Their calls would help to confirm whether we are dealing with tits or not.

You mention 'song' in this latest post. Did you hear bird song or just calls? Can you describe any of the calls that the group were making?

Also, did the group of birds appear to be feeding in the plants or just roosting?

Amoeba · #8 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 08:18 PM

Dae: Well if that's the case then I probably have my answer. I really wasn't sure if there were any other similar kinds.

GlendaleGuy: Did I say something about song? In the OP I said some birds could be heard. There wasn't really a group as such, just two ling-tailed birds following each other - the other birds were scattered around in the bushes, and I could identify them as tits of many kinds. The songs I could hear were familiar - wrens, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, song thrush, blackbird etc. Each of them could be pinned down to particular species, none that I didn't reckognise.