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Eurasian Penduline Tit

Eurasian Penduline Tit

Remiz pendulinus

Identify the Eurasian Penduline Tit by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eurasian Penduline Tit is a tiny, masked songbird of wetlands in the western Palearctic, famous for its intricate, pouch-shaped nest that dangles from branches over water. Males have a grey head with a black mask and a chestnut back. Northern populations migrate, while southern ones are resident. It expanded north and west across Europe in the late 20th century.

Did you know?

  • Its hanging nest was once used as a child's slipper in parts of central Europe.
  • Its name pendulinus comes from the Latin for “hanging”.

Voice

Flight call

About the species

Identification

A small songbird with a grey head and a clear black mask (broader in males), a reddish-brown back and pale underparts; the male's breast often has fine rufous spotting. Young birds are plainer brown with a weaker mask. The bill is sharp and pointed. Its high, drawn-out, descending “tseeoo” call helps locate it in reedbeds.

Family

Remizidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

brown, grey, black, white, orange

About the habitat

Wetlands and riverbanks with reeds, willows and other waterside trees – marsh edges, oxbow lakes, lakeshores and river deltas.

Diet

Mainly small insects and spiders; also seeds, especially of willows, reedmace and reeds in winter.

Behaviour

An acrobatic gleaner that often hangs beneath thin stems and catkins, holding food with one foot while it picks. The male weaves an elaborate hanging nest of plant down, wool and spider silk with a narrow entrance tube; usually only one parent then incubates and raises the young, while the other seeks a new mate. Outside the breeding season it moves in small groups through reedbeds.

Sources

Photo: Martin Mecnarowski (http://www.photomecan.eu/), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Remiz pendulinus 3 (Martin Mecnarowski).jpg

Sound: Tim Vochten, XC947268, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/947268

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_penduline_tit

See also