Long-tailed Tit or Pied Wagtail?
These two get mixed up constantly. Here is what actually separates them, taken from each bird's own page.
Long-tailed Tit
Aegithalos caudatus
Also small, black and white and long-tailed, but a wagtail is a ground bird with long legs that runs across lawns and car parks and pumps its tail. Long-tailed tits are canopy and hedge birds that hang from twigs and scarcely ever touch the ground.
Pied Wagtail
Motacilla alba
Side by side
| Long-tailed Tit | Pied Wagtail | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | One of Britain's smallest birds — about 14cm total, but over half of that is tail, and the body weighs under 10g. | Robin length in the body, but the long tail makes it look bigger — around 18cm overall, and far slimmer. |
| Where you'll see it | Suet and sunflower feeders, hedges and the outer twigs of trees; almost never on the ground. | Short grass, paths, drives, car parks, flat roofs and the edges of ponds and puddles. Not on hanging feeders. |
| What it eats | Insects, spiders and moth and butterfly eggs; increasingly suet and sunflower hearts in winter. | Insects, particularly flies, taken from open ground or caught in short fluttering chases; some seed in hard weather. |
| When | All year, but flock visits to gardens peak from October to March. | Resident all year. In winter birds feed alone by day and gather in large communal roosts at dusk. |
| Status | Green listed | Green listed |
Still not sure? Describe what you saw and we will rank every garden bird against it — including these two.
Both descriptions are taken from the species pages, which cite the BTO and RSPB. Reviewed 2026-09-20.