May 5, 2020

These Tiny Birds in Japan Look Like Fluffy Little Cotton Balls

In Hokkaido, Japan's second-largest island, fluffy white little birds flitter through the trees. They look like white cotton balls bouncing around and are beloved by the Japanese, who call them Shima enaga. In English, they're known as long-tailed tits, though this particular subspecies is only found in Hokkaido. What makes Hokkaido's long-tailed tits so special? All members of the species are tiny, measuring 13 to 15 centimeters long—and half of that is tail!

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