A long-tailed tit flew past the window carrying a feather. Was this the opportunity to find a nest I have been waiting for? You can keep your white-tailed eagles and avocets; the long-tailed tit is my favourite! I watched the tit out of sight and followed on foot. It had disappeared into a hedgerow that is now little more than a bramble thicket, where it was joined by its mate. I waited until they were occupied elsewhere, and peered among the mostly leafless brambles, but I could not see any sign of a nest. Then there was a twittering, a long-tailed tit appeared in the hedge and hopped into a half-built nest, not 10 feet from me! Holding the long tail cocked out of the way, it squirmed and wriggled as it worked the nest fabric with its feet and bill. More twittering and the second tit appeared and displaced the first in the nest. Here were two differences from other tits. The long-tailed tit does not nest in a hole and the male helps build the nest. Of course, the long-tailed tit is not a proper tit. It does not belong to the family Paridae, like blue, great and coal tits, but to the family Aegithalidae. And the bearded tit of reedbeds (another favourite) is in the family Timaliidae. There are moves to 'do a dunnock' with these birds. What used to be called the hedge sparrow is now the dunnock, an old local name, because it is not a proper sparrow. So the bearded tit would become the reedling – appropriately. I have not heard any suggestions for the long-tailed tit. Old names include bum barrel, poke pudding, hedge jug and long-tailed chittering. I rather like mumruffin.
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