| White-browed tit | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Paridae |
| Genus: | Poecile |
| Species: | P. superciliosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Poecile superciliosus Przewalski, 1876 | |
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| 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]