Long-tailed tits’ rise in Britain

This is a video about long-tailed tits.

From Wildlife Extra:

Long-tailed tit numbers increase sharply

Boom times for Long-tailed Tits

March 2009. Although 2008 saw another poor breeding season for many birds, it proved to be a bumper year for one of our most endearing species. Participants in the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Garden BirdWatch survey have seen a huge increase in Long-tailed Tits using their gardens, the biggest such increase since the scheme began.

The latest results to emerge from the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch survey have revealed a massive increase in the use of gardens by Long-tailed Tits, a species that often visits gardens in extended family parties. The results, together with information drawn in from other BTO work, suggest that the Long-tailed Tit population has been boosted by a run of mild winters and a fantastic breeding season. During the last week of 2008 some 43% of the gardens covered by the survey held visiting Long-tailed Tits, compared to just 25% at the same time the previous year.

Long-tailed Tits are an early breeding species with nest building initiated around March. What is interesting about these birds is their co-operative breeding technique, with many related individuals helping to rear chicks within the group. These birds do not use artificial nest boxes but prefer to construct their own elaborate nest domes. Each nest contains a precise lining of up to 2,600 feathers, all of carefully selected lengths, used to regulate nest temperature for incubating and brooding young. Researchers experimentally removing or adding feathers have found the birds able to recognise the interference and adjust their counting accordingly. The building process may take 39 days to complete.

See also here.