Bearded Reedling

Panurus biarmicus

Lives its entire life in reedbeds, dangling sideways from a single stem. Your message gets delivered acrobatically.

Population: ~3.43–7.83 million mature individuals globally (2018 assessment), population increasing overall (though subject to considerable local/regional fluctuation)
Habitat: Extensive reedbeds (Phragmites) and dense non-woody vegetation in and beside fresh or brackish water — marshes, swamps, lakes, and riverbanks with dense stands of common reed, bulrush, and sedge
Fun fact: Despite the name "bearded," males actually sport a black moustache-like stripe rather than a beard (the species is "neither a tit nor bearded"), and — uniquely among passerines — males have an enlarged cloacal protuberance used as a copulatory organ; typical wild life expectancy is only 2–3 years, though the ringing longevity record is 7 years 3 months.
Range: Temperate Europe and western/central Asia — a very large range (>23.7 million km²) from the British Isles and Iberia across the continent through Russia and Central Asia to Manchuria/China and Mongolia; expanding northward into Scandinavia and Finland since the mid-20th century. Japan and Korea are outside the normal range and occur only as rare vagrant records, not part of the established distribution (first-pass record overstated Japan as part of the core range).
Diet: Small invertebrates (insects, larvae, pupae, spiders) in summer; seeds of reed, rushes, nettles, willowherb and other marsh plants in winter
Size: 0.16 m
Wingspan: 0.17 m
Lifespan: 7 years

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