Long-Tailed Tit - Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust

Key Facts

Length: 14cm
Wingspan: 18cm
Weight: 9g
Average lifespan: 2 years

Long-tailed Tits are tiny birds of hedgerows, woodland, parks and gardens. They build a domed nest in a bush or the fork of a tree using moss, which they camouflage with cobwebs and lichen.

They line the nest with feathers, using as many as 1,500 to make it soft for the eight to twelve eggs they lay. Tits are active feeders, hunting out insects and spiders amongst the smaller branches of trees in woodlands. But they are also well-adapted to gardens and towns and will visit birdtables and feeders. In winter, they will form flocks with other tits, roaming woodlands, parks and gardens, and commons and heaths with suitable bushes.

How to Identify

Unmistakeable: Long-tailed Tits live up to their name with black and white tails that are bigger than their bodies. They have a black, white and pink back, a white head with a wide black eyestripe, and a pale pink belly.

Where to Find

Widespread.

How People Can Help

You can help to look after Long-tailed Tits and other garden birds by providing food and water for them – it doesn’t matter if you have a big garden or live in a high-rise flat, there are plenty of feeders, baths and food choices out there to suit all kinds of situations. To find out more about encouraging wildlife into your garden, visit our Wild About Gardens website: a joint initiative with the RHS, there’s plenty of facts and tips to get you started.

Did you know?

Sociable and noisy, Long-tailed Tits are usually spotted roaming about in flocks of 20 or more birds during the winter. At night, Long-tailed Tits cluster together to keep warm.