• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Bearded Reedling - BirdForum Opus

(Redirected from Bearded Tit)

Alternative names: Bearded Parrotbill; Bearded Tit; Whiskered Tit; Bearded Tit-Babbler; Reedling

Male
Photo © by the late Mahsleb
Minsmere, England, March 2009
Panurus biarmicus

Identification

Female
Photo ©
Photo by michha62
Cley, Norfolk, England, February, 2009

Length: 16.5cm (6.5in).
Male has a blue grey head, yellow eye, yellow bill, black drooping moustache, creamy brown back, long tail.
Female lacks moustache and blue grey head.

Distribution

Juvenile
Photo © by scottishdude
Minsmere, England, May 2009

Very random range in Europe, much more prevalent further east in Asia.

In the Western Palearctic breeds in Britain and irregularly distributed at coastal sites from western France to Denmark, more widespread in Germany, including some inland areas and east to Poland and the Baltic States. Further south breeds in parts of central Spain and the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and France and the north Adriatic coast of Italy. More common and widespread in the east in Hungary and Romania, parts of Greece and central Turkey, and in the far east in the Volga Delta.

In Britain breeds in southern and eastern England, two main localities in northern England and also at one site in Scotland.

Most populations are basically sedentary but undergo irruptive movements when birds disperse to other reedbeds. Some may return in spring to original site others form the basis of a new colony.

Winter range is similar to but usually rather more extensive than breeding range.

Vagrants recorded in Morocco, Algeria and Syria.

Taxonomy

Not a true tit, therefore the international name Bearded Parrotbill. Formerly placed with the parrotbills which are itself sometimes placed within the babblers. New research however have shown that this species is a sister group to the larks and is better placed in its own family, Panuridae.

Subspecies

Subspecies russicus
Photo © by Houman Doroudi (Tormtay)
Salehieh Wetland, Qazvin Province, Iran, 12 December 2019

There are 3 subspecies[1]:

  • P.b. biarmicus:
  • P.b. russicus: Very similar but slightly paler:
  • P.b. kosswigi: darker and more rufous
  • Formerly southern Turkey (Amik Gölü). Probably extinct

An additional subspecies occidentalis is generally considered invalid[2].

Habitat

The main habitat is large reedbeds on fresh or brackish water, sometimes with scattered trees and bushes.

Behaviour

Flight

Lives in reedbeds, where its flight is low, slow and weak with whirring wingbeats.

Diet

Feeds on spiders, insects, caterpillars and also seeds from the reed beds for part of the year.

Breeding

Builds a cup nest of dead leaves and other marsh plants, often producing 3 or 4 broods a year.

Vocalisation

Voice is a loud pinging - very distinctive.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Birdcheck

Recommended Citation

External Links


GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

Back
Top