Bearded Reedling
| Bearded Reedling[1] | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Adult male | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Panuridae? |
| Genus: | Panurus Koch, 1816 |
| Species: | P. biarmicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Panurus biarmicus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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The Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) is a peculiar small passerine bird. It is also frequently known as the Bearded Tit due to some similarities to Long-tailed Tits, or Bearded Parrotbill
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[edit] Taxonomy
The Bearded Reedling was placed with the Parrotbills in the family Paradoxornithidae after it was removed from the true tits in the family Paridae. However, according to more recent research, it is actually a unique songbird - no other living species seems to be particularly closely related to it. Thus, it seems that the monotypic family Panuridae must again be recognized.
[edit] Distribution
The Bearded Reedling is a species of temperate Europe and Asia. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate other than eruptive or cold weather movements. It is vulnerable to hard winters, which may kill many birds. The English population of about 500 pairs is largely confined to the south and east with a small population in Leighton Moss in north Lancashire. In Ireland a handful of pairs breed in County Wexford. The largest single population in Great Britain is to be found in the reedbeds at the mouth of the River Tay in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, where there may be in excess of 250 pairs.[3]
[edit] Description
This is a small orange-brown bird with a long tail and an undulating flight. The male has a grey head and black moustaches (not a beard). Flocks often betray their presence in a reedbed by their characteristic "ping" call.
[edit] Habitat
This species is a wetland specialist, breeding colonially in large reedbeds by lakes or swamps. It eats reed aphids in summer, and reed seeds in winter, its digestive system actually changing to cope with the very different seasonal diets.[4]
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Juvenile (top), adult males (center) and adult female (front)
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Flock in natural habitat
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Three males
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Female
[edit] References
- ^ Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds) (2011). "Waxwings to Swallows". IOC World Bird Names (version 2.9). http://www.worldbirdnames.org/n-waxwings.html. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- ^ BirdLife International (2009). Panurus biarmicus. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 20 August 2011.
- ^ Forrester R.W. & Andrews I.J Eds (2007) The Birds of Scotland Volume 2 Scottish Ornithologists' Club ISBN978-0-9512139-0-2
- ^ Robson, Craig (2007). "Family Paradoxornithidae (Parrotbill)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 292–320. ISBN 9788496553422.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Panurus biarmicus |
- Bearded Reedling videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
- Song of the Bearded Tit (Real Audio soundfile from Sveriges Radio P2)
- Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta
