Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) is a tiny round-bodied bird with a remarkably long tail and black, white, pink and grey plumage that varies geographically. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It travels through woodland, scrub, parks and gardens in close family flocks outside breeding, gleaning insects from fine branches and building an enclosed moss-and-lichen nest. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).