Black-crested tit

Black-crested tit
In Binser - Almora District of Uttrakhand, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Paridae
Genus:	Periparus
Species:	P. ater
Subspecies:	P. a. melanolophus
Trinomial name
Periparus ater melanolophus Vigors, 1831
Synonyms
Periparus melanolophus

The black-crested tit (Periparus ater melanolophus), also known as the spot-winged tit, is a bird in the family Paridae. ^[1] It was formerly considered a distinct species, but is now widely considered a subspecies of the coal tit. ^[2]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in boreal forests and temperate forests in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, mainly in the Himalayas, ranging across Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

Taxonomy

The black-crested tit was formerly considered its own species closely related to the coal tit, but the two are now widely considered conspecific based on similar vocalizations and behavior, along with paraphyly of the traditional coal tit if black-crested tit is excluded. It intergrades with the coal tit subspecies P. a. aemodius in western Nepal.

Gallery

• 
  in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India
• 
  carrying nesting material in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India
• 
  carrying feed for chicks in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India

References

1. Löhrl, Hans; Thielcke, Gerhard (1 April 1973). "Alarmlaute europäischer und nordafrikanischer Tannenmeisen(Parus ater ater, P. ater atlas, P. ater ledouci) und der Schwarzschopfmeise(P. melanolophus)" . Journal für Ornithologie (in German). 114 (2): 250–252. doi:10.1007/BF01641174. ISSN   1439-0361.
2. Wolfgramm, Hannes; Martens, Jochen; Töpfer, Till; Vamberger, Melita; Pathak, Abhinaya; Stuckas, Heiko; Päckert, Martin (December 2021). "Asymmetric allelic introgression across a hybrid zone of the coal tit ( Periparus ater ) in the central Himalayas*". Ecology and Evolution. 11 (23): 17332–17351. Bibcode:2021EcoEv..1117332W. doi:10.1002/ece3.8369. ISSN   2045-7758. PMC   8668783 . PMID   34938512.