Wild Bird Wednesday 620 - Bearded Reedling / Bearded Tit

On the 12th January this year, at Titchwell RSPB Reserve, I finally saw a bird that I had been hoping to see for at least 35 years.  It's another species like the Avocet that was basically mythical during my earlier years, and one that is completely absent from Australia.

The Bearded Reedling / Bearded Tit (Panurus biarmicus) is a bird that relies on extensive reed beds as a habitat.  And, much to our shame, extensive reed beds have been pretty much systematically destroyed over the years.  So, as the reed beds declined so did this species.

But also like the Avocet, the tide seems to have turned a little for this species, as we now come to understand the value of wetlands in general and reed beds in particular. There are now at least 650 breeding pairs in the UK - often on reserves like Titchwell, but always in places that have been managed to restore or expand the reed bed habitat they need.  Wetlands are not waste lands, and it shows how limited our understanding of value is (or has been) that we can only see value in them by converting them to something else.

The Bearded Reedling is a rather unique bird, and it's classification has changed much over the years as people have tried to place it within the great web of bird taxonomy. It lacks close relatives and is nearest to the lark family.

This species is strongly sexually dimorphic - and for reasons I don't fully grasp few if any of the useable images I managed to make were of the female.  The male with its blue-grey head and big, dropping moustache face markings is very distinctive.

There were 6 or 7 birds in the group I watched, and they were very active and often rather distant.  I admit I checked the time in the UK and phoned my family in Australia to tell them I was finally watching this species.  They weren't as excited as was, but that's understandable! 

Wonderful.

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