The whole territory of Belarus
Family Long-tailed tits - Aegithalidae.
In Belarus - A. c. caudatus. L. A. Portenko in 1954 identified the opolovniki nesting south-west of the city of Pskov (including on the territory of Belarus) as a separate subspecies A. c. brachyurus, indicating only smaller sizes as differences from the nominal form, especially the length of the tail. However, the available collection material (10 males obtained during the nesting period, 6 females) does not confirm these differences. The subspecies differentiation of Belarusian populations is to some extent contradicted by the fact of periodic invasions of birds from more northeastern regions into our territory, the last of which took place in the fall of 2000.
Common nesting, sedentary and nomadic species. It is found throughout the republic.
Olga Vasilevskaya, b. Pina, Pinsk district (Brest region)One of our smallest birds. It is well distinguished due to its long tail (longer than the body) and short beak. The plumage of the head, throat, chest and front of the abdomen, as well as the edges of the tail, are white. The back and middle of the tail are black. The tail is very long with a stepped arrangement of feathers. Wings are brownish, wing coverts and uppertail and undertail are lighter, reddish-brown or pinkish-brownish. Male weight 6.5-10.5 g, female 6-11 g. Body length (both sexes) 14-16 cm, wingspan 16-20 cm, wing length 6-6.5 cm, tail 8-9.5 cm, tarsus 1.5-2 cm, beak 0.5-0.6 cm.
It resembles tits in its habits, outside the nesting time it always keeps in flocks, individuals in which constantly call in each other, issuing a somewhat crackling call "cherry." cherr ". The voice is rendered (Fedyushin and Dolbik, 1967) as "si-si-si" or "cirr-cirr".
Alexander Ifikov. Orsha district (Vitebsk region)Inhabits mainly the edges and outskirts of various deciduous and mixed forests (alder, oak, pine-oak, spruce-alder). Preference is given to damp, often swampy plantations. Moreover, it often settles in areas with abundant undergrowth and undergrowth. Eagerly nests in willow, alder and birch thickets along the banks of streams and rivers, overgrown with deciduous forest bogs, as well as in shrub thickets along damp ravines.
Olga Vasilevskaya, b. Pina, env. Pinsk (Brest region)Wandering birds in autumn and winter are found in various types of biotopes, summer cottages, on the outskirts of cities and villages. During migrations in autumn and winter, they are found even among clean pine forests, which are avoided at other times. They roam along with titmice, pikas and kings. Winter invasion of the Long-tailed Tit to Belarus from more northern regions is expected.
Breeds in single pairs. Pairing occurs early. Already at the end of February - the first half of March. Birds occupy nesting areas and begin to build nests. Both partners are building at the end of March - the first half of April. The nest building takes 8–11 days.
It arranges nests most often on deciduous trees (birch, oak, alder, mountain ash, linden, willow, etc.) and shrubs, less often on conifers. It also willingly settles on dead trees. Nests are located at a height of 1-10 m (occasionally higher). On small trees and bushes, the nest is placed in the forks of the trunk or branches, on large trees - on lateral branches, close to the trunk, or braids to thin branches (usually on spruces) at the end of a large drooping branch, as if hanging it. In all cases, the nest is well camouflaged, inconspicuous, and is a skillful construction of an ovoid, sometimes spherical (on spruce) shape with a lateral opening. The nest, built in a fork in a tree, rather resembles an outgrowth, since its outer lining is made of pieces of bark (birch bark, etc.), lichen (sometimes with an admixture of plant fluff) and braided with cobwebs and insect cocoons.
The basis of the walls of the nest is moss, occasionally with an admixture of last year's fern leaves, trees, dry grass, also held together by cocoons. The inner lining, consisting of a significant number of small feathers, adheres closely to the walls of the nest, the thickness of which reaches 1-2.5 cm.The height of the nest is 13.5-16 cm, the width is 9-11.5x12-13.5, the summer is 2-3 cm.
A common clutch contains 8-12, sometimes up to 15, in exceptional cases 5-7 eggs. The main background of the shell can be white, yellowish white or slightly grayish yellowish. A rather rare light reddish superficial speck often thickens towards the blunt end and forms a corolla. Light violet-gray deep spotting is hardly noticeable. Egg length 13-15 mm, diameter 10-11 mm, weight 1 g.
Completed fresh clutches are found in the second or third decades of April and at the beginning of May. Probably, some pairs (in the southern half of the republic) have two broods per season. The female incubates mainly for 12-13 days. Chicks stay in the nest for 14-16 days. One interesting phenomenon is often observed in mongrels: feed for chicks is often carried not only by their parents, but also by other adult birds of this species, which for some reason do not have their own broods.
Julia Pivovarova, Kobrin district (Brest region)Flying young mongrels from early clutches are found in the second half of May - first half of June. Throughout June, broods adhere to the nesting area, in July - August and later they begin to wander, they are found in various forest plantations, even in swampy pine forests that are unusual for them, but especially often in alder growth and willow forests on floodplain meadows and swamps, they fly into gardens and parks. After the young broods leave, they keep together all autumn and winter.
It feeds on small insects and their larvae, as well as spiders. Both in summer and in winter it searches for food, carefully examining cracks in the bark, forks of branches, not fallen dry leaves and other secluded places where insects can be found.
In summer, the abundance of opolovniki in Belovezhskaya Pushcha is low; it noticeably increases during autumn-winter migrations, when birds form flocks of 10–30 individuals.
The number of long-tailed tits in Belarus is stable and is estimated at 35-50 thousand pairs.
The maximum age registered in Europe is 11 years 1 month.
Joseph Kremis, Glubokoe district (Vitebsk region) Yulia Pivovarova, Kobrin district (Brest region) Yulia Pivovarova, Kobrin district (Brest region) Vladimir Bondar, Bykhov district (Mogilev region)
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