Category: Tits

County Recorder Jon Cook relays his account of finding a Long-tailed Tit showing some northern race characteristics.

On the afternoon of Sunday, 3rd January, I visited Ravensthorpe Reservoir. As I reached the north-eastern end of the dam, I paused to watch a group of three Goldcrests which were feeding among the ivy-covered walls of the opposite side of the spillway. A Chiffchaff was also occasionally visible and audible in the tree canopy further downstream. At 14.06 I became aware of a small mixed tit flock approaching from my left, comprising 3-4 Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Blue Tits and a Great Tit. I noticed immediately that one of the Long-tailed Tits was strikingly white-headed. I managed to get a couple of front-on photos before the flock moved away downstream.

With its mostly white head, I felt that the bird had some characteristics of the Northern race caudatus, but having seen the bird only briefly and not from all angles, this was far from clear cut, and a quick check of the literature on the topic described many subspecies, intergrades and other pitfalls which made me very cautious about calling this bird a pure caudatus.

I often include a circuit of Ravensthorpe Reservoir in my daily exercise, so have been able to go back twice since. On Monday, 4th January, I was unable to re-find the bird, but the following day I relocated it close to the original location, but further into the wood and higher in the canopy. Again, a fleeting view of the bird as it moved through the trees this time with a larger group of about 12 Long-tailed Tits.

On both occasions this bird immediately grabbed my attention as being noticeably white-headed, lacking a dark lateral crown stripe. Underparts were clean white with rosy flanks. Black at nape extending towards ear coverts seems to be a key feature ruling out a pure caudatus. The white on the head, although striking, was not the pure snowy white I’ve seen on some photos. I didn’t manage to get a clear view of tertials so couldn’t see extent of any white there. On balance I feel that the features and characteristics of this bird make a case for it to be an intergrade europaeus / caudatus. On the other hand it could of course be simply an aberrant British ssp rosaceus. Given the multiple possibilities, this record will probably remain inconclusive, but whatever its provenance it was a strikingly attractive bird and the sighting has led me to brush up on my knowledge of this fascinating species, so it has also been a valuable learning experience.

Many thanks to Mike Alibone and to all the other birders who, via Twitter and email, have offered views, thoughts and knowledge to help with this ID challenge.

Jon Cook, County Recorder
joncooknorthantsbirds@gmail.com
joncookbirding.wordpress.com 

On 27th October I was pleased to find two Bearded Tits in the main reedbed at Stortons Gravel Pits. Always great to see, especially locally, I was alerted to their presence by the familiar ‘chuwing’ calls coming from the reeds on the southern side before a male and female broke cover and flew a short distance above the reed tops before dropping down out of sight. Not quite the long, drawn-out ‘sweee’ calls I had been hoping to hear while walking round: Penduline Tit has been seen only once in Northants (at Ditchford GP on 22nd October 1983), another is long overdue and October is the peak month … However, Bearded Tit is a fair consolation prize and with those elongated black moustaches set strikingly against that powder blue-grey head, bright yellow eye and russet plumage tones the male is without doubt a ‘looker’.

Although there have been runs of consecutive blank years, Bearded Tits occur almost annually in Northants and any sizeable area of Phragmites is worth checking for them from late autumn and throughout the winter. Occurrences are limited to relatively ‘recent’ history and there are no records during the period 1849 to 1965. Subsequent records average below 1.5 per year. The number of birds making up the records is generally low, with most records comprising between two and four individuals. Exceptionally, however, double-figure flocks are encountered and the highest currently stands at 20+ at Ditchford GP on 12th November 1972.

The above graph clearly indicates the peak month of occurrence is October, which is when many disperse from breeding areas in both Europe and the UK as indicated by ringing recoveries. That the Stortons pair was trapped and ringed locally on 17th November has sparked debate on the validity of ringing versus disturbance to these birds. One comment made was that ‘a recovery is unlikely’ and, while that may be so for these two individuals, the same argument could be made for all birds which are trapped and ringed.

Condemning ringing the Bearded Tits is, therefore, as good as condemning all bird ringing. The ringing group at Stortons is active most weekends and traps a broad spectrum of species from Reed Buntings and Cetti’s Warblers to Water Rails and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Is it a problem if the Bearded Tits are also trapped during the course of a morning’s ringing?

Much of what we know about bird movements, distribution, migration and longevity has come from ringing and, although a recovery may be unlikely, it might be that the Bearded Tits are from a breeding population on a purpose-managed reserve in the UK (e.g. Minsmere, Leighton Moss) and could be retrapped at such a site. Proving our Northamptonshire wintering Bearded Tits come from a UK breeding population on a managed reserve (or elsewhere in the UK) surely strengthens the case for making the wintering site a conservation area, affording it a greater measure of protection from disturbance or development. Secure wintering sites are just as important to the survival of a species as protected breeding habitats. Stortons is one such site as records indicate it has held Bearded Tits on many occasions during past winters. Furthermore there are ringing recoveries in Northants of individuals ringed in Suffolk and Kent (multiple re-traps).

Bearded Tit is classed as ‘Amber’ in terms of its UK conservation status. There are an estimated 630 breeding pairs (BTO) so, in this instance, there is some value in trapping and ringing them if we can learn more about their movements and set aside protected wintering areas accordingly.

Chris Payne trapped this Great Tit with a strikingly malformed bill in Greens Norton recently. It was trapped twice and appears to be coping well with its deformity and maintaining its average weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such deformities have occurred in a number of passerine species and on Flickr, there is a page devoted to photos of Birds with Deformed Bills. Several possible reasons for such

deformities have been put forward, including genetic or developmental causes, injury or disease, although agricultural chemicals and pollutants may also play a part. It is believed that while some birds can adjust to their handicap and may feed by turning their heads to one side others apparently starve or are plagued by numerous parasites, such as body lice according to Passerines with deformed bills (Julie Craves).