Aegithalos caudatus (Long tailed Tit)

Long-tailed Tits are small and delicate looking birds, with beautifully subtle plumage and (as the name suggests) a long tail.
Often seen in small flocks, these birds are delightful visitors to gardens where they use hanging peanut feeders and fat balls.
This species has a very different appearance to the other tits and can easily be separated from them by its long, narrow tail, small size and colouration. The general appearance is one of a black and white bird with pink and dusky tones, incredibly acrobatic in nature and with a distinctive shape in flight of a small pale ball followed by a long tail.
In adults, the head is white, with a broad black eye-stripe that extends back down the neck; the upperparts, wings and tail are dark with areas of pink, while the underparts are a dirty white, tinged with pink. Young birds are duller in colouration than adults, the black being replaced by a dark brown and the pink replaced by white. These young birds undergo a complete moult just a few weeks after leaving the nest and so it is impossible to separate them from adults after they have undergone this moult.
Long-tailed Tits are usually seen in extended family parties of 8-20 individuals and these mobile groups typically give themselves away through their characteristic contact calls. This call is a sharp ‘tsurp’, repeated several times. Once heard, it is easily remembered and often the first indication that a small group of Long-tailed Tits is in the area.