COVER STORY: NATIVE SOFTBILLS
I WONDER how many novice bird people have persuaded themselves that the bird they'd just seen wasn't a bearded tit, as it was only sporting a moustache? Its more descriptive name, originating in Norfolk, is “reedling” and despite (in the UK) once being restricted to Kent and East Anglia, it was well known with a variety of country names. “Bearded pinnock” was a reference to its nasal “pinging” call. “Reed pheasant” recalls a time when any bird with a long tail, regardless of size, was referred to as “pheasant”. It's unlikely a bearded reedling would impale its food on thorns, so the name “lesser butcher bird” must refer to its black facial markings, a bit like a red-backed shrike's. The female lacks the male's mandarin-style moustache and lavender grey on the head. Instead it has a bone-coloured
