Panurus biarmicus ( Bearded Reedling - Μουστακαλής )

Size : 14-16 cm
Wingspan : 16 - 18 cm
Diet : insects and reed seeds. 

Marios Philippou - Male


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The bearded reedling (Panurus biarmicus) is a small, long-tailed passerine bird found in reed beds near water in the temperate zone of Eurasia. It is frequently known as the bearded tit or the bearded parrotbill, as it historically was believed to be closely related to tits or parrotbills. Today it is known to lack close relatives and it is the only species in the family Panuridae.[3]

Bearded reedlings are strongly sexually dimorphic and form life-long pairs. They are highly productive and can breed several times in a season. They mainly feed on small invertebrates in summer and plant seeds in winter.[4

Distribution and habitat

The bearded reedling is native to temperate Europe and Asia, ranging from Spain, France and the British Isles to the Manchurian region, but its distribution tends to be quite spotty because of its habitat preference.[1][4] Maps often show most of its Asian range as a single large continuous section (instead of more spotty), but this is due to limited details in monitoring data from this area relative to the western part of its range.[2] In Europe, it used to be limited to mid and low latitudes, also including Great Britain, but in the second half of the 20th century it has expanded north into Scandinavia, Finland and the northern Baltics.[3][16][17]

It is an occasional non-breeding visitor to Cyprus and Iran, and it has rarely been recorded as a vagrant to the west, south and east of its normal distribution in Portugal, North Africa, Israel, Kuwait, Pakistan, Japan and Korea.[1][4][13] The species generally is resident and no population is known to follow a clear and consistent migration pattern. However, some European populations tend to spend the non-breeding period (winter) to the south or southwest of their breeding (summer) range, making what potentially can be described as a short-distance migration, up to a few hundred kilometres long. This is primarily seen in the northern half of the continent, but in no region does it appear to involve the entire population, with some birds partaking in such movements and some essentially staying year-round.[2][18] Both adults and young may make eruptive dispersals outside the breeding season and in periods with limited food or cold weather bearded reedlings may perform other, most often local movements.[4][13]

The bearded reedling is a habitat specialist found in reed beds, primarily those with common reed, by fresh or brackish water lakes, swamps or rivers, but it also occurs in nearby tall grass-like vegetation such as bulrushes and true sedges.[3][4] Especially during the breeding period the species quite strongly avoids non-floodable or dry parts of wetlands,[19] but in other times it may wander more freely.[4] Although typically found perched or climbing on reeds and similar types of vegetation, it readily hops on the ground, especially in swampy places or at water's edge.[4] It has a wide altitudinal range, mostly being found from sea level to medium altitudes, but has been recorded up to 3,050 m (10,010 ft) above sea level in China.[13]

Feeding

In the summer, the bearded reedling mostly eats adult insects, their larvae and pupae, and other small invertebrates (springtails, spiders, snails, etc), typically taking rather slow-moving species. This is also the food a pair provides to their nestlings and fledglings.[4][15] It is common for a nest site to be several hundred metres from the main feeding sites.[15]

In the late autumn and winter, bearded reedlings mostly feed on seeds of common reed, rushes, common nettle, great willowherb and other grassy or sedge-like plants, occasionally forming mixed flocks with other small seed-eating birds like redpolls.[4][15] Seeds are taken directly from the plant or from the ground, scratching the surface, turning over leaves or even probing into snow.[4] However, during hard or wet winters, access to this important food source can be greatly reduced due to extensive snow cover, ice cover or floods, causing starvation.[3][30] Significant changes happen in its digestive system to cope with the very different summer and winter diets.[15] The stomach lining is strengthened, and from around September to December, bearded reedlings swallow gritting material, for example coarse sand or small gravel grains, which aids in grinding down the tough seeds.[16][31]

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