DSC7776 Bearded Tit..

Bearded Reedling - Panurus Biarmicus

 

aka Bearded Tit. (M)

 

A Schedule 1 Bird.

 

This species is a wetland specialist, breeding colonially in large reed beds by lakes or swamps. It eats reed aphids in summer, and reed seeds in winter, its digestive system changing to cope with the very different seasonal diets.

 

Often having to take grit in order to help digestion.

 

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.

 

Other Breeding areas include Norfolk and Somerset.

 

Population:

 

UK breeding:

 

630 pairs

 

Europe:

 

232 - 437,000 birds

 

Done