Bearded Reedling

How to recognise it

• Pale cinnamon back and flanks, ash-grey head and nape, whitish underparts
• Long rusty-yellow tail with white tips to the outer feathers, and a bounding flight
• Male has a grey head, black moustaches, black undertail coverts and a bright orange-yellow bill
• Female lacks the long cheek feathers, has pale rusty-yellow undertail coverts and often a duller bill

Call and song

The calls are rapidly repeated ping and tching notes, sometimes followed by a drawn-out tchirr. The metallic ping is used as a contact call and often gives the bird away. The male's song has been described as a melodious "tschin-schik-schra".

Where and when

In Sweden it breeds in some years north to southern Värmland, Västmanland and Uppland. Tåkern, Dettern in Västergötland and Kvismaren in Närke are strongholds. The Swedish population is estimated at between 6 000 and 12 000 breeding individuals. It is reported most in October and November, and its share of all bird reports is highest in Uppsala, Halland and Örebro.

Food and behaviour

In summer it eats mainly insects and other small invertebrates, in winter reed seeds and other seeds. It often hops on the ground, especially in marshy spots or at the water's edge. Outside the breeding season it is usually seen in groups of up to a few dozen birds, and pairs usually stay together for life. In flight the short wings make a whirring sound.