Codibugnolo

Identificazione

This species has been described as a tiny (at only 13–15 cm (5–6 in) in length, including its .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}7–9 cm (3–3+1⁄2 in) tail), round-bodied tit with a short, stubby bill and a very long, narrow tail. The sexes look the same and young birds undergo a complete moult to adult plumage before the first winter. The plumage is mainly black and white, with variable amounts of grey and pink.<p>Vocalisations are a valuable aid to locating and identifying these birds. When in flocks they issue constant contact calls and are often heard before they are seen. They have three main calls, a single high pitched pit, a ‘triple trill’ eez-eez-eez, and a rattling schnuur. The calls become faster and louder when the birds cross open ground or if an individual becomes separated from the group.

Tassonomia

The long-tailed tit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Parus caudatus. The specific epithet caudatus is the Latin word for "tailed". Linnaeus did not invent this Latin name. "Parus caudatus" had been used by earlier authors such as the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in 1555, the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599, and the English ornithologist Francis Willughby in 1676. Willughby listed the English name as the "long tail'd titmouse". Its previous common nickname in everyday English was the bum-towel, from the shape of its tail.<p>The long-tailed tit was first classified as a true tit of the Parus group. Parus has since been split from the Aegithalidae, with the latter becoming a distinct family containing three genera:<p>This is the only representative of the Aegithalidae in northern Eurasia. The long-tailed tit exhibits complex global variation with 17 races recognised, divisible into three groups:<p>The silver-throated bushtit (Aegithalos glaucogularis) from eastern China was formerly considered conspecific but the plumage is distinctive and there are significant genetic differences.<p>Where the groups meet there are extensive areas occupied by very variable ‘hybrids’. The British long-tailed tit, subspecies A. c. rosaceus, belongs to the A. c. europaeus group.

Nome scientifico

Aegithalos caudatus

Autorità

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Ordine

Passeriformi

Famiglia

Aegithalidae

Genere

Aegithalos

Areale e habitat

The long-tailed tit is globally widespread throughout temperate Northern Europe and the Palearctic, into boreal Scandinavia and south into the Mediterranean zone. It inhabits deciduous and mixed woodland with a well-developed shrub layer, favouring edge habitats. It can also be found in scrub, heathland with scattered trees, bushes and hedges, in farmland and riverine woodland, parks and gardens. The bird's year-round diet of insects and social foraging bias habitat choice in winter towards deciduous woodland, typically of oak, ash and locally sycamore species. For nesting, strong preference is shown towards scrub areas. The nest is often built in thorny bushes less than 3 metres (10 feet) above the ground.

Migrazione

Specie stanziale

Comportamento

Comportamento migratorio: Specie stanziale.

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione: stabile.

Tendenza della popolazione

stabile