Male Bearded reedling Panurus biarmicus, feeding in Phragmites reed bed. Tay Reedbeds RSPB reserve. Near Perth, Scotland.

Bearded tit

Despite some similarities - and its name - scientists have decided it is not actually related to the tit family.

It was removed from the tit family Paridae (which includes blue, great and crested tits), and instead placed in Paradoxornithidae, the parrotbills, before further research revealed it belonged alone in its own family, Panuridae.

Bearded tit male

Bearded tit

A brown, long-tailed bird, usually seen flying rapidly across the top of a reedbed. Males have black 'moustaches' rather than 'beards'.

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