Penduline tit

    Remiz pendulinus

Castilian: Pájaro moscón

Catalan: Teixidor

Gallego: Ferreiriño de cara negra

Euskera: Dilindaria

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Remizidae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

listen song

THREATS

Its primary threats come from the destruction of its nesting habitat, the abuse of insecticides, reed burning and nest harvesting.

Length / size: 11 cm / 16-17 cm

Identification: Very small bird with a very characteristic black facial disc that extends to the auricular area, highlighted against the bird's greyish-white head. Its back is brown with black edges, and its breast is a little lighter with dim reddish-brown spots.

Song: It is a fluty, sibilant "tseeeee" that it can combine to form short verses.

Diet: It feeds on small invertebrates, spiders, and insects and their larvae, which it searches for among flowers and the leaf buds of black poplars, willows, and reeds; in winter it adds plant matter to its diet in the form of poplar shoots and seeds.

Reproduction: Before choosing a mate, males build a complex, spherical nest that is covered with a white fuzz that comes from the black poplar trees that surround it. Shortly before finishing, it attracts females (it is polygamous) with a mating song that it sings from some visible location, and once it has found a mate, they both complete the nest, which is very resistant. The female is responsible for incubating the eggs while the male feeds the families that it has created.

HABITAT

It is a species that is linked to wet areas, both outer wetlands and rivers. It easily moves among stalks of reeds, where it hides its nest.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: Undergoing regional and populational expansion in the Iberian Peninsula. It is absent in the archipelagos, but is abundant in the areas surrounding large rivers and on the Mediterranean coastline.

In Castile and León: It has occupied Castile and León and is advancing towards the Ebro and Duero River valleys. It is present in certain areas in all the provinces, but is rare in Segovia and Soria.

Movements and migrations: It behaves like a sedentary species in the southern countries in its distribution and like a migratory species in the northernmost ones, moving to south and southwest Europe at the end of summer.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 12400-14600 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of 3000-3500 breeding pairs.