Long-tailed Tit Nesting: A Complete Guide

A lovely and beautiful garden bird, the long-tailed tit (long tail tit) is widely distributed throughout Europe and much of Central and North Asia. Some of you may have been lucky enough to see a long-tailed chickadee’s nest before – a rare but never-forgotten piece of art! Nest building is a dangerous activity for many birds and their hard work and dedication cannot be underestimated!

A long-tailed tit nest consists of four carefully assembled components; lichen, feathers, moss, spider silk, and spider egg cocoons. They can take about 2 to 3 weeks to complete and can have as many as 6,000 components! The cozy interior of the nest is lined with some 2,000 feathers collected from the ground or salvaged from dead birds.

Because these nests take a while to build, pairs of long-tailed tits may begin nesting as early as February, well before the breeding season is in full swing. In particular, long-tailed tits tend to leave the nest several days before the female lays down. Birds may watch to see if predators have noticed the nest.

The nesting behavior of long-tailed chickadees is complex, and the way they build their nests itself is incredible – read on to learn more about the nesting behavior of these small, sociable birds!

Long-tailed tit poking its head out of the nest

When Do Long-tailed Titmouses Nest?

Long-tailed tits are found throughout Europe and Central Asia, so they experience a traditional spring breeding season that runs from late March until July. They usually start nesting well before the breeding season, sometimes as early as late February.

Long-tailed tits can delay nesting until April or May if the weather is still cold and wet. They prefer to finish their nest early if possible so they can inspect it and make any necessary adjustments before the female lays her eggs.

Nest building takes about three to four weeks, but when long-tailed tits have to delay nesting, they can erect within a week. Hasty nests are more prone to failure and may lack structural integrity. Some late nests don’t even have the enclosed dome-like canopy that is characteristic of long-tailed tit nests.

Long-tailed tit perched on a branch

Where do long-tailed tits nest?

Long-tailed tits like to build their nests in dense, prickly foliage. Gorse and brambles are two popular choices—briar hedges hold up especially well.

In some cases, long-tailed tits will nest high in the canopy, provided the foliage is dense enough. Typically, they nest within a few feet of the ground.

When selecting a site, the birds will circle up and down, assessing the nesting quality of the site. The nest scouting process usually takes several days. Experienced long-tailed tits will tentatively calculate their chosen spot, and if there are any reservations, they will move on. Instead, young couples may nest in less-than-ideal locations.

long tailed tit nesting

What does a long-tailed tit nest look like?

The long-tailed tit nest is a small dome, about 15 cm in diameter, in the shape of an egg or bottle. They’re relatively large for a bird of this size – females can lay as many as 15 eggs, so they have to be!

The exterior of a long-tailed tit nest is made of moss, spider silk, and lichen. Lichen and spider silk combine to form a natural Velcro-like material that adheres to surrounding foliage. Moss provides structural stability and helps waterproof the nest. The whole structure is somewhat flexible and malleable, allowing it to move with the surrounding foliage in strong winds and heavy rains.

Long-tailed tits line their nests with thousands of feathers. Victorian ornithologist William McGillivray counted approximately 2,379 feathers while dissecting a used nest! Modern research is consistent with this figure, with both birds spending most of the last week of construction gathering feathers to line the nest.

Long-tailed tit nest under construction

How do long-tailed tits build their nests?

Nest building takes at least three weeks, sometimes longer. Both males and females build nests and cooperate strongly during the process. Together the two will forage for materials and work as a team to build the nest, talking eagerly as they go.

If the couple start early in the mild February, they will need more time to choose a good site and build as strong and sturdy a nest as possible. Construction is divided into two phases:

• Build the external structure: It takes about two weeks or more to build the outer structure of the nest. First, a combination of moss, lichen, and spider silk is collected, “glued” and woven together.
• Lining the nest: Also known as “feathering”. The final quarter of the building process involves isolating the nest with locally collected feathers. Long-tailed tits spend more time nesting in colder, more northern regions.

Long-tailed tits gather moss for nesting

How Long Do Long-tailed Titmouses Build Nests?

Once the female has laid a clutch, she begins to incubate the eggs. Hatching can take up to two weeks, a long time for a bird of this size. Hatching is an arduous process as there are usually at least 12 eggs that need to hatch.

The male feeds the female, although she occasionally leaves the nest to forage for herself. After hatching, long-tailed tits spend the next 14 to 18 days raising their young. Long-tailed tits have a long and intensive breeding and nesting cycle, which is why they have gone to great lengths to build such beautiful nests!

When do little long-tailed tits leave the nest?

After about two weeks, long-tailed chickadees fled their feathers, but they remain under the watchful eye of their parents for the rest of the breeding season.

Families of long-tailed tits often stay together for several seasons in a row, with immature offspring assisting their parents until they are old enough to mate on their own. Long-tailed tits continue to live in large family groups of about 10 to 20 birds even after the offspring have found their mates.

Long-tailed tits are highly gregarious and sociable birds known for their altruism — couples who successfully raise chicks early in the season often go on to help other couples raise their chicks.

Newly hatched long-tailed tit chick

How many litters do long-tailed tits have?

Long-tailed tits usually only have time to raise a brood. If their first den fails early in the season, they will try to keep building another den if possible. The second nest usually erects much faster than the first.

Unfortunately, most long-tailed nests fail, usually due to predation. Despite every effort to hide the nest, the size and shape of long-tailed nests can still be easily spotted by predators. Mammals such as magpies, crows, and weasels will often find these nests, killing any hatchlings and rendering their nests useless. Due to predation and bad weather, fewer than 20 percent of long-tailed bird nests survive in some regions, including the UK and western and northern Europe.

That’s part of the reason long-tailed tits start nesting early — if the nest fails early in the season, they may still have time to build another.

However, if nesting fails in late April or May, there is usually not enough time to try to raise another brood. In this case, they often offer assistance to nearby long-tailed tits. This is called cooperative breeding.

long tailed tit in winter

Long-tailed tit cooperative breeding

Long-tailed tits exhibit cooperative breeding and altruism during the breeding season. It’s uncommon and has fascinated ornithologists for centuries.

There are two situations for long-tailed tits to cooperate in breeding:

• when they have successfully raised a brood early in the season, or
• When their nest is broken and there is not enough time to build a new one

In either case, both birds may venture to find another nesting pair of long-tailed tits and help them, mainly by bringing them food to feed the chicks. The study found that as many as 50 percent of long-tailed tit broods have “helpers.”

The motivation for this unusual behavior is somewhat mysterious, but researchers now believe that keeping local populations healthy by helping other long-tailed tits to produce young ones helps their survival.

The study also found that being a helper meant the tits were more likely to survive the next year and raise successful offspring themselves. This is likely because taking on the role of a taught the birds important lessons about raising chicks.

Instead of leaving their parents, chicks often become helpers themselves, assisting their parents in raising their offspring for the coming year.

There is some debate about whether these actions are truly altruistic or selfish. In fact, traits such as selfishness and altruism are somewhat intertwined dualities rather than existing in isolation from each other.

A pair of long-tailed tits

Do long-tailed tits nest in the same place every year?

Long-tailed tits do not migrate and tend to stay close to their nesting sites. If they breed successful offspring, they will usually return to the same spot again the next year.

What do long-tailed tit eggs look like?

Long-tailed tit eggs are tiny, about the weight of a paper clip. They are not much larger than a peanut, measuring about 14 x 10 mm. Eggs are predominantly glossy off-white or pale cream with black or purple spots.