White-browed tit

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White-browed tit
White-browed tit (cropped).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Poecile
Species:
P. superciliosus
Binomial name
Poecile superciliosus
Przewalski, 1876
Poecile superciliosus distribution map.png
Synonyms

Parus superciliosus

The white-browed tit (Poecile superciliosus) is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae. It is endemic to the mountain forests of central China and Tibet.

It is 13.5–14 cm long, with a weight of 10–12 g. The plumage pattern is very similar to that of the western North American mountain chickadee P. gambeli (of which it has on occasion been considered a subspecies, despite its being on a different continent), differing in the breast and cheeks being rusty brown, not white, and having a longer and more sharply defined white eyebrow; the back is also a richer brown, not greyish-brown (del Hoyo et al. 2007).

It breeds in alpine shrub forests of Berberis , Rhamnus , Rhododendron , and Salix at 3,200–4,235 m altitude, descending in winter to slightly lower levels where it occurs in coniferous forests, primarily Picea . It nests on the ground in rock crevices or old rodent burrows (del Hoyo et al. 2007).

Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the white-browed tit is sister to the sombre tit (Poecile lugubris). [2] [3]

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Poecile superciliosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22711740A94307574. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22711740A94307574.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Johansson, Ulf S.; Ekman, Jan; Bowie, Rauri C. K.; Halvarsson, Peter; Ohlson, Jan I.; Price, Trevor D.; Ericson, Per G. P. (2013). "A complete multilocus species phylogeny of the tits and chickadees (Aves: Paridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69 (3): 852–860. Bibcode:2013MolPE..69..852J. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.019. PMID   23831453.
  3. Tritsch, Christian; Martens, Jochen; Sun, Yue-Hua; Heim, Wieland; Strutzenberger, Patrick; Päckert, Martin (2017). "Improved sampling at the subspecies level solves a taxonomic dilemma – A case study of two enigmatic Chinese tit species (Aves, Passeriformes, Paridae, Poecile)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 107: 538–550. Bibcode:2017MolPE.107..538T. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.014. PMID   27965081.