Paridae (Family)

Overview

The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly classified in the genus Parus.

These birds are called either "chickadees" (onomatopoeic, derived from their distinctive "chick-a dee dee dee" alarm call) or "titmice" in North America, and just "tits" in the rest of the English-speaking world. The name titmouse is recorded from the 14th century, composed of the Old English name for the bird, mase (Proto-Germanic *maison, German Meise) and tit, denoting something small. The spelling was influenced by mouse in the 16th century. Emigrants to New Zealand presumably identified some of the superficially similar birds of the genus Petroica of the family Petroicidae, the Australian robins, as members of the tit family, giving them the title Tomtit although, in fact, they are not related.

These birds ar e mainly small stocky woodland species with short stout bills. Some have crests. They range in length from 10 to 22 centimetres. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects.^1] Many species will live around human habitation and come readily to bird feeders for nuts or seed, and learn to take other foods. In Britain, Great Tits and Blue Tits famously learned to break open the foil caps sealing bottles of milk that had been delivered to homes to get at the cream floating on top.

These are hole-nesting birds, typically using trees, although some species build nests on the ground. They lay anything from three to nineteen speckled white eggs, depending on species.^[1]

Description

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With the exception of the three monotypic genera Sylviparus, Melanochlora and Pseudopodoces, the tits are extremely similar in appearance, and have been described as "one of the most conservative avian families in terms of general morphology".^[2] The typical length of the family is between 10?16 cm (3.9?6.3 in) in length, when the monotypic genera are added this range is from 9?21 cm (3.5?8.3 in). In weight the family ranges from 5?49 g (0.18?1.7 oz), this contracts to 7?29 g (0.25?1.0 oz) when the three atypical genera are removed. The majority of the variation within the family comes in plumage, and particularly color.^[3]

The bills of the tits are generally short, and vary between stout and fine dependent on diet. The more insectivorous species have finer bills, whereas those that consume more seeds have stouter bills. The most aberrant bill of the family is possessed by the Hume's Ground Tit , which is long and decurved.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

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Like all titmice, the Tufted Titmouse is restricted to North America
The tits are a widespread family of birds, occurring over most of Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. The genus Poecile occurs from Europe through Asia into North America, as far south as southern Mexico. American species in this genus are known as chickadees. Some species in this genus have quite large natural distributions, one, the Siberian Tit, is distributed from Scandinavia to Alaska and Canada. The majority of the ti ts in the genus Periparus are found in the south eastern portion of Asia. This includes two species endemic to the Philippines. The Coal Tit, also in this genus, is a much more widespread species, ranging from the British Isles and North Africa to Japan. The two crested tits of the genus Lophophanes have a disjunct distribution, with one species occurring in Europe and the other in central Asia.^[3]
The titmice (genus Baeolophus) are unique to America. The biggest genus, Parus has numerous species found in Africa, several in southern and eastern Asia, and one, the Great Tit, which ranges from Western Europe to Indonesia. Cyanistes has a European and Asian distribution (also nudging into northern Africa), and the three remaining genera, Pseudopodoces, Sylviparus and Melanochlora are all restricted to Asia.^[3]
Behaviour

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The tits are active, noisy and social birds. The tits also have a variety of methods for attracting mates, primarily through their intricate, bouncing mating dance. They are territorial during the breeding season and often joining mixed-species feeding flocks during the non-breeding season. The tits are highly adaptable and, after the corvids (crows and jays) and parrots, amongst the most intelligent of all birds.^[3]
Vocalisations
A Great Tit calling in Finland.
The tits make a variety of calls and songs. They are amongst the most vocal of all birds, calling continuously in most situations, so much so that they are only ever silent for specific reasons such as avoiding predators or when intruding on a rival's territory. Quiet contact calls are made while feeding to facilitate cohesion with others in their social group.^[3] Other calls are used for signalling alarm?the most famous of which i s the "Chic-a-dee-dee" of North American species in the genus Poecile, the call which gives them their local common name, the chickadee. The call also serves a rallying call to summon others to mob and harass the predator. It has been demonstrated through experiments that the number of "dee" syllables at the end of the call increases with the level of danger the predator poses.^[4]
Diet and feeding
Hammer-holding is a common way for the family to deal with food items
Blue Tit with prey item
The tits are generalist insectivores that consume a wide range of small insects and other invertebrates, particularly small defoliating caterpillars. They also consume seeds and nuts, particularly in the winter. One characteristic method of foraging in the family is hanging, where they will inspect a branch or twig and leaves from all angles while hanging upside down to feed.^[3] In areas where numerous species of tit coexist different species will forage in different parts of the tree, their niche determined in no small way by their morphology; larger species forage on the ground, medium sized species foraging on larger branches and the smallest species on the ends of branches. Having obtained larger prey items or seeds tits will engage in hold-hammering, where they will hold the item with one foot and hammer it with the bill until it is open. In this fashion they can even open hazelnuts in around 20 minutes. A number of genera engage in food caching, hoarding supplies of food during the winter.^[5] These caches are usually of seeds but may be of insects as well.
Systematics

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The Marsh Tit was once placed in the genus Parus but has now been moved to the genus Poecile.
Recently, the large Parus group has been gradually split into several genera (as indicated below), which has been pi oneered by North American ornithological authorities and to a more limited degree (as of now) elsewhere. Whereas in the mid-1990s, only Pseudopodoces, Baeolophus, Melanochlora and Sylviparus were considered well-supported by the available data as distinct from Parus.^[6] Today, this arrangement is considered paraphyletic as indicated by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis and Parus is best restricted to the Parus major?Parus fasciiventer clade, and even the latter species' closest relatives might be considered a distinct genus.^[7]
In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the Paridae family is much enlarged to include related groups such as the Penduline tits and Long-tailed tits, but while the former are quite close to the titmice indeed and could conceivably be included in that family together w ith the stenostirid "warblers", the long-tailed tits are not. Indeed, the Yellow-browed Tit and the Sultan Tit are possibly more distant to the tits than the penduline tits are.^[7]^[8] If the two current families are lumped into the Paridae, the tits would be a subfamily Parinae.
Alternatively, all tits?save the two monotypic genera discussed in the preceding section and possibly Cyanistes, but including Hume's Ground Tit?could be lumped in Parus. In any case, four major clades of "typical" tits can be recognized: the dark-capped chickadees and their relatives (Poecile including Sittiparus), the long-crested Baeolophus and Lophophanes species, the usually tufted, white-cheeked Periparus (including Pardaliparus) with more subdued coloration and finally Parus sensu stric to (including Melaniparus and Macholophus). Still, the interrelationship of these as well as the relationships of many species within the clades are not well resolved at all; analysis of morphology and biogeography probably gives more a robust picture than the available molecular data.^[7]
Tits have settled North America twice, probably at some time during the Early-Mid Pliocene. The first were the ancestors of Baeolophus; chickadees arrived somewhat later.^[7]
Species in taxonomic order

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Tit in a winter tree
Penduline tits and
stenostirid "warblers"
Family: PARIDAE
Genus Poecile?formerly included in Parus
Sombre Tit Poecile lugubris
Caspian Tit Poecile hyrcanus (often included in P. lugubris)
Marsh Tit Poecile palustris
Willow Tit Poecile montanus
Black-bibbed Tit Poecile hypermelaenus
Songar Tit Poecile songarus (often included in P. montanus)
Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli
Mexican Chickadee Poecile sclateri
White-browed Tit Poecile superciliosus
P?re David's Tit Poecile davidi
Grey-headed Chickadee Poecile cinctus
Boreal Chickadee Poecile hudsonicus
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Poecile rufescens
Genus Periparus?formerly included in Parus
Black-breasted Tit or Rufous-naped Tit Periparus rufonuchalis
Rufous-vented Tit Periparus rubidiventris
Spot-winged Tit or Black-crested Tit Periparus melanolophus
Coal Tit Periparus ater?possibly paraphyletic
Yellow-bellied Tit Periparus venustulus?sometimes separated in Pardaliparus
Elegant Tit Periparus elegans?probably paraphyletic; sometimes separated in Pardaliparus
Palawan Tit Periparus amabilis?sometimes separated in Pardaliparus
Genus Lophophanes?formerly included in Parus
European Crested Tit Lophophanes cristatus
Grey Crested Tit Lophophanes dichrous
Genus Baeolophus?formerly included in Parus
Bridled Titm ouse Baeolophus wollweberi
Oak Titmouse Baeolophus inornatus
Juniper Titmouse Baeolophus ridgwayi
Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Genus Parus
White-shouldered Black Tit Parus guineensis?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
White-winged Black Tit Parus leucomelas?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Southern Black Tit Parus niger?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Carp's Tit Parus carpi?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
White-bellied Tit Parus albiventris?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
White-backed Black Tit Parus leuconotus?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Dusky Tit Parus funereus?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Rufous-bellied Tit Parus rufiventris?sometimes separated in Melanipa rus
Red-throated Tit Parus fringillinus?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Stripe-breasted Tit Parus fasciiventer?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Acacia Tit Parus thruppi?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Miombo Tit Parus griseiventris?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Ashy Tit Parus cinerascens?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Grey Tit Parus afer?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Great Tit Parus major
Japanese Tit Parus minor (often included in P. major)
Green-backed Tit Parus monticolus
White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis
Black-lored Tit Parus xanthogenys?sometimes separated in Macholophus
Yellow-cheeked Tit Parus spilonotus
Yellow Tit Parus holsti?sometimes separated in Macholophus
White-fronted Tit Parus semilarvatus?sometimes sep arated in Sittiparus
Varied Tit Parus varius?sometimes separated in Sittiparus or Poecile
Genus Pseudopodoces
Ground Tit Pseudopodoces humilis (previously "Hume's Ground Jay")?this species has only recently been removed from the crow family Corvidae and placed here.^[9]
Genus Cyanistes?formerly included in Parus
Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus
Azure Tit Cyanistes cyanus
Yellow-breasted Tit Cyanistes flavipectus (often included in C. cyanus)
These two monotypic genera are possibly less close to titmice than are the penduline tits.
Genus Sylviparus
Yellow-browed Tit Sylviparus modestus
Genus Melanochlora
Sultan Tit Melanochlora sultanea< /i>
pe through Asia into North America, as far south as southern Mexico. American species in this genus are known as chickadees. Some species in this genus have quite large natural distributions, one, the Siberian Tit, is distributed from Scandinavia to Alaska and Canada. The majority of the tits in the genus Periparus are found in the south eastern portion of Asia. This includes two species endemic to the Philippines. The Coal Tit, also in this genus, is a much more widespread species, ranging from the British Isles and North Africa to Japan. The two crested tits of the genus Lophophanes have a disjunct distribution, with one species occurring in Europe and the other in central Asia.^[3]
The titmice (genus Baeolophus) are unique to America. The biggest genus, Parus has numerous species found in Africa, several in southern and eastern Asia, and one, the Great Tit, which ranges from Western Europe to Indonesia. Cyanistes has a European and Asian distribution (also nudging into northern Africa), and the three remaining genera, Pseudopodoces, Sylviparus and Melanochlora are all restricted to Asia.^[3]
Behaviour

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The tits are active, noisy and social birds. The tits also have a variety of methods for attracting mates, primarily through their intricate, bouncing mating dance. They are territorial during the breeding season and often joining mixed-species feeding flocks during the non-breeding season. The tits are highly adaptable and, after the corvids (crows and jays) and parrots, amongst the most intelligent of all birds.^[3]
Vocalisations

A Great Tit calling in Finland.
The tits make a variety of calls and songs. They are amongst the most vocal of all birds, calling continuously in most situations, so much so that they are only ever silent for specific reasons such as a voiding predators or when intruding on a rival's territory. Quiet contact calls are made while feeding to facilitate cohesion with others in their social group.^[3] Other calls are used for signalling alarm?the most famous of which is the "Chic-a-dee-dee" of North American species in the genus Poecile, the call which gives them their local common name, the chickadee. The call also serves a rallying call to summon others to mob and harass the predator. It has been demonstrated through experiments that the number of "dee" syllables at the end of the call increases with the level of danger the predator poses.^[4]
Diet and feeding
Hammer-holding is a common way for the family to deal with food items
Blue Tit with prey item
The tits are generalist insectivores that consume a wide range of small insects and other invertebrates, particularly small defoliating caterpillars. They also consume seeds and nuts, particularly in the winter. One characteristic method of foraging in the family is hanging, where they will inspect a branch or twig and leaves from all angles while hanging upside down to feed.^[3] In areas where numerous species of tit coexist different species will forage in different parts of the tree, their niche determined in no small way by their morphology; larger species forage on the ground, medium sized species foraging on larger branches and the smallest species on the ends of branches. Having obtained larger prey items or seeds tits will engage in hold-hammering, where they will hold the item with one foot and hammer it with the bill until it is open. In this fashion they can even open hazelnuts in around 20 minutes. A number of genera engage in food caching, hoarding supplies of food during the winter.^[5] These caches are usually of seeds but may be of insects as well.
Systematics

[ Back to top ]
The Marsh Tit was once placed in the genus Parus but has now been moved to the genus Poecile.
Recently, the large Parus group has been gradually split into several genera (as indicated below), which has been pioneered by North American ornithological authorities and to a more limited degree (as of now) elsewhere. Whereas in the mid-1990s, only Pseudopodoces, Baeolophus, Melanochlora and Sylviparus were considered well-supported by the available data as distinct from Parus.^[6] Today, this arrangement is considered paraphyletic as indicated by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis and Parus is best restricted to the Parus major?Parus fasciiventer clade, and even the latter species' closest relatives might be considered a distinct genus.^[7]
In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, the Paridae family is much enlarged to include related groups such as the Penduline tits and Long-tailed tits, but while the former are quite close to the titmice indeed and could conceivably be included in that family together with the stenostirid "warblers", the long-tailed tits are not. Indeed, the Yellow-browed Tit and the Sultan Tit are possibly more distant to the tits than the penduline tits are.^[7]^[8] If the two current families are lumped into the Paridae, the tits would be a subfamily Parinae.
Alternatively, all tits?save the two monotypic genera discussed in the preceding section and possibly Cyanistes, but including Hume's Ground Tit?could be lumped in Parus. In any case, four major clades of "typical" tits can be re cognized: the dark-capped chickadees and their relatives (Poecile including Sittiparus), the long-crested Baeolophus and Lophophanes species, the usually tufted, white-cheeked Periparus (including Pardaliparus) with more subdued coloration and finally Parus sensu stricto (including Melaniparus and Macholophus). Still, the interrelationship of these as well as the relationships of many species within the clades are not well resolved at all; analysis of morphology and biogeography probably gives more a robust picture than the available molecular data.^[7]
Tits have settled North America twice, probably at some time during the Early-Mid Pliocene. The first were the ancestors of Baeolophus; chickadees arrived somewhat later.^[7]
Species in taxonomic order

[ Back to top ]
Tit in a winter tree
Penduline tits and
stenostirid "warblers"
Family: PARIDAE
Genus Poecile?formerly included in Parus
Sombre Tit Poecile lugubris
Caspian Tit Poecile hyrcanus (often included in P. lugubris)
Marsh Tit Poecile palustris
Willow Tit Poecile montanus
Black-bibbed Tit Poecile hypermelaenus
Songar Tit Poecile songarus (often included in P. montanus)
Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli
Mexican Chickadee Poecile sclateri
White-browed Tit Poecile superciliosus
P?re David's Tit Poecile davidi
Grey-headed Chickadee Poecile cinctus
Boreal Chickadee Poecile hudsonicus
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Poecile rufescens
Genus Periparus?formerly included in Parus
Black-breasted Tit or Rufous-naped Tit Periparus rufonuchalis
Rufous-vented Tit Periparus rubidiventris
Spot-winged Tit or Black-crested Tit Periparus melanolophus
Coal Tit Periparus ater?possibly paraphyletic
Yellow-bellied Tit Periparus venustulus?sometimes separated in Pardaliparus
Elegant Tit Periparus elegans?probably paraphyletic; sometimes separated in Pardaliparus
Palawan Tit Periparus amabilis?sometimes separated in Pardaliparus< /li>
Genus Lophophanes?formerly included in Parus
European Crested Tit Lophophanes cristatus
Grey Crested Tit Lophophanes dichrous
Genus Baeolophus?formerly included in Parus
Bridled Titmouse Baeolophus wollweberi
Oak Titmouse Baeolophus inornatus
Juniper Titmouse Baeolophus ridgwayi
Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Genus Parus
White-shouldered Black Tit Parus guineensis?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
White-winged Black Tit Parus leucomelas?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Southern Black Tit Parus niger?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Carp's Tit Parus carpi?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
White-bellied Tit Parus albiventr is?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
White-backed Black Tit Parus leuconotus?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Dusky Tit Parus funereus?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Rufous-bellied Tit Parus rufiventris?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Red-throated Tit Parus fringillinus?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Stripe-breasted Tit Parus fasciiventer?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Acacia Tit Parus thruppi?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Miombo Tit Parus griseiventris?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Ashy Tit Parus cinerascens?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Grey Tit Parus afer?sometimes separated in Melaniparus
Great Tit Parus major
Japanese Tit Parus minor (often included in P. major)
Green-backed Tit Parus monticolus
White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis
Black-lored Tit Parus xanthogenys?sometimes separated in Macholophus
Yellow-cheeked Tit Parus spilonotus
Yellow Tit Parus holsti?sometimes separated in Macholophus
White-fronted Tit Parus semilarvatus?sometimes separated in Sittiparus
Varied Tit Parus varius?sometimes separated in Sittiparus or Poecile
Genus Pseudopodoces
Ground Tit Pseudopodoces humilis (previously "Hume's Ground Jay")?this species has only recently been removed from the crow family Corvidae and placed here.^[9]
Genus Cyanistes?formerly included in Parus
Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus
Azure Tit Cyanistes cyanus
Yellow-breasted Tit Cyanistes flavipectus (often included in C. cyanus)
These two monotypic genera are possibly less close to titmice than are the penduline tits.
Genus Sylviparus
Yellow-browed Tit Sylviparus modestus
Genus Melanochlora
Sultan Tit Melanochlora sultanea
References

[ Back to top ]
^ ^a ^b Perrins, C. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 202?203. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
^ Gosler & Clement (2007) P.669
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Gosler, Andrew; Clement, Peter (2007). "Family Paridae (Tits and Chickadees)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 662?709. ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2.
^ Templeton, Christopher; Greene, Erick & Kate Davis (2005). "Allometry of Alarm Calls: Black-Capped Chickadees Encode Information About Predator Size". Science 308 (5730): 1934?1937. doi:10.1126/science.1108841. PMID 15976305.
^ Jokinen, S; Suhonen, J (1995). "Food Caching By Willow and Crested Tits: A Test of Scatterhoarding Models". Ecology 76 (3): 892?898. doi:10.2307/1939354. JSTOR 1939354.
^ Harrap, Simon & Quinn, David (1996): Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-3964-4
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gill, Frank B.; Slikas, Beth & Sheldon, Frederick H. (2005): Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Auk 122: 121-143. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0121:POTPIS]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
^ J?nsson, Knud A. & Fjelds?, Jon (2006): Determining biogeographical patterns of dispersal and diversification in oscine passerine birds in Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa. J. Biogeogr. 33(7): 1155?1165. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01507.x (HTML abstract)
^ James, H. F. et al. (2003). Pseudopodoces humilis, a misclassified terrestrial tit (Paridae) of the Tibetan Plateau: evolutionary consequences of shifting adaptive zones. Ibis 145: 185?202.pdf file
Slikas, Beth; Sheldon, Frederick H.; Gill, Frank B. (1996): Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): I. Estimate of relationships among subgenera based on DNA-DNA hybridization. Journal of Avian Biology 27: 70-82.
External links

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Titmouse photos & videos on the Internet Bird Collection

Taxonomy

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The Family Paridae is a member of the Superfamily Sylvioidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Paridae:

Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animalia C. Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
Subkingdom: Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
Branch: Deuterostomia Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
Infrakingdom: Chordonia (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
Phylum: Chordata Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
Subphylum: Vertebrata Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
Superclass: Tetrapoda Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
Class: Sauropsida Linnaeus, 1758
Subclass: Avialae Gauthier, 1986
Infraclass: Aves (C. Linnaeus, 1758) - Birds
Cohort: Neognathae Pycraft, 1900
Superorder: Passerimorphae Sibley et al., 1988
Order: Passeriformes C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Perching Birds
Suborder: Passeres (C. Linnaeus, 1758) C. Linnaeus, 1766
Parvorder: Passerida
Superfamily: Sylvioidea
Family: Paridae Vigors, 1825 - Chickadees, Titmice

The Family Paridae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Subfamily (3): Corvinae · Melioideae · Parinae

Tribe (2): Corvini · Melieae

Genus (13): Baeolophus · Cyanistes · Lophophanes · Melaniparus · Melanochlora · Mixed · Pardaliparus · Parus · Periparus · Poecile · Pseudopodoces · Sittiparus · Sylviparus

Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 438 species and subspecies in the Family Paridae.

Genera

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Baeolophus

Baeolophus is a genus of bird, commonly known as titmice in the Paridae family, all of which are native to North America. In the past, most authorities retained Baeolophus as a subgenus within the genus Parus, but treatment as a distinct genus, initiated by the American Ornithologists Union, is now widely accepted. [more]

Cyanistes

Cyanistes is a genus of tits. It is frequently subsumed into Parus. It consists of a number of small species found in temperate Europe and Asia and Northern Africa [more]

Lophophanes

Lophophanes is a small genus of birds in the Paridae family. [more]

Melaniparus

Melanochlora

The Sultan Tit (Melanochlora sultanea) is a large songbird (about 17 cm long) with a yellow crest, dark bill, black upperparts plumage and yellow underparts. The sexes are similar. The female has greenish black upperparts and yellowish throat. The young bird is duller than the adult and has a shorter crest. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Melanochlora, which is fairly distinct from the Parus tits with the nearest relative being the monotypic Sylviparus. [more]

Mixed

[more]

Pardaliparus

Parus

Parus is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. As defined here, it contains the following species: [more]

Periparus

Periparus is a genus of birds in the tit family that, as defined here, consists of the following species: [more]

Poecile

Poecile is a genus of bird in the tit family that is often lumped into the genus Parus. It has 13?15 species, which are scattered across North America, Europe and Asia; the North American species are the chickadees. In the past, most authorities retained Poecile as a subgenus within the genus Parus, but treatment as a distinct genus, initiated by the American Ornithologists Union, is now widely accepted. This is supported by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis. [more]

Pseudopodoces

The Ground Tit, Tibetan Ground-tit or Hume's Ground-tit (Pseudopodoces humilis) is a lark-like bird which lives to the north of the Himalayas. It is also known as Hume's Groundpecker. It was formerly thought to belong to the family Corvidae which includes the crows and jays and was called as the Hume's Ground Jay or Tibetan Ground Jay. This species has since been identified as a member of the tit family (Paridae) and is the only species in the genus Pseudopodoces. [more]

Sittiparus

Sylviparus

The Yellow-browed Tit (Sylviparus modestus) is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is placed in the monotypic genus Sylviparus. [more]

At least 4 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Sylviparus.

More info about the Genus Sylviparus may be found here.

References

[ Back to top ]

^ ^a ^b Perrins, C. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 202?203. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.

^ Gosler & Clement (2007) P.669

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Gosler, Andrew; Clement, Peter (2007). "Family Paridae (Tits and Chickadees)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Ellio tt, Andrew; Christie, David. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 662?709. ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2.

^ Templeton, Christopher; Greene, Erick & Kate Davis (2005). "Allometry of Alarm Calls: Black-Capped Chickadees Encode Information About Predator Size". Science 308 (5730): 1934?1937. doi:10.1126/science.1108841. PMID 15976305.

^ Jokinen, S; Suhonen, J (1995). "Food Caching By Willow and Crested Tits: A Test of Scatterhoarding Models". Ecology 76 (3): 892?898. doi:10.2307/1939354. JSTOR 1939354.

< a href="#cite_ref-5">^ Harrap, Simon & Quinn, David (1996): Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-3964-4

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gill, Frank B.; Slikas, Beth & Sheldon, Frederick H. (2005): Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Auk 122: 121-143. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0121:POTPIS]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract

^ J?nsson, Knud A. & Fjelds?, Jon (2006): Determining biogeographical patterns of dispersal and diversification in oscine passerine birds in Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa. J. Biogeogr. 33(7): 1155?1165. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01507.x (HTML abstract)

^ James, H. F. et al. (2003). Pseudopodoces humilis, a misclassified terrestrial tit (Paridae) of the Tibetan Plateau: evolutionary consequences of shifting adaptive zones. Ibis 145: 185?202.pdf file

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