Discover

(Redirected from Chickadees)

The 'tits', 'chickadees', and 'titmice' comprise 'Paridae', a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly in the genus ''Parus''.
These birds are called "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 attested from the 14th century, composed of the Old English name for the bird, ''mase'' (Proto-Germanic ''
★ maison'') and ''tit'', denoting something small. The spelling was influenced by ''mouse'' in the 16th century.
These birds are mainly small stocky woodland species with short stout bills. Some have crests. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects. 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 laying speckled white eggs.

Contents

Systematics

Species in taxonomic order

References

External links

Systematics

More 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'' (Harrap & Quinn 1996). 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 (Gill ''et al.'' 2005).
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 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 titmice than are the penduline tits (Gill ''et al.'' 2005 and Jønsson & Fjeldsa 2006). If the two current families are lumped into the Paridae, the titmice would be a subfamily 'Parinae'.
Alternatively, all tits - save the 2 monotypic genera discussed in the preceding section and possibly ''Cyanistes'', but including Hume's Ground Tit - could be lumped in ''Parus''. In any case, 4 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 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 (Gill ''et al.'', 2005).
Titmice 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 (Gill ''et al.'', 2005).

Species in taxonomic order

★ Penduline tits and

★ stenostirid "warblers"
:might be included here

★ 'Genus ''Sylviparus'''

★
★ Yellow-browed Tit, ''Sylviparus modestus''

★ 'Genus ''Melanochlora'''

★
★ Sultan Tit, ''Melanochlora sultanea''
:These two monotypic genera are possibly less close to titmice than are the penduline tits.

★ 'Genus ''Cyanistes''' - frequently included in ''Parus''

★
★ Blue Tit, ''Cyanistes caeruleus''

★
★ Azure Tit, ''Cyanistes cyanus''

★
★ Yellow-breasted Tit, ''Cyanistes flavipectus''

★ 'Genus ''Baeolophus''

★
★ Bridled Titmouse, ''Baeolophus wollweberi''

★
★ Oak Titmouse, ''Baeolophus inornatus''

★
★ Juniper Titmouse, ''Baeolophus ridgwayi''

★
★ Tufted Titmouse, ''Baeolophus bicolor''

★
★ Black-crested Titmouse, ''Baeolophus atricristatus''

★ 'Genus ''Lophophanes''' - frequently included in ''Parus''

★
★ Crested Tit, ''Lophophanes cristatus''

★
★ Grey-crested Tit, ''Lophophanes dichrous''

★ 'Genus ''Periparus''' - frequently included in ''Parus''

★
★ Rufous-naped Tit or Black-breasted Tit, ''Periparus rufonuchalis''

★
★ Rufous-vented Tit, ''Periparus rubidiventris''

★
★ Palawan Tit, ''Periparus amabilis'' - sometimes separated in ''Pardaliparus''

★
★ Yellow-bellied Tit, ''Periparus venustulus'' - sometimes separated in ''Pardaliparus''

★
★ Elegant Tit, ''Periparus elegans'' - probably paraphyletic; sometimes separated in ''Pardaliparus''

★
★ Coal Tit, ''Periparus ater'' - possibly paraphyletic

★
★ Black-crested Tit or Spot-winged Tit, ''Periparus (ater) melanolophus''

★ 'Genus ''Poecile''' - frequently included in ''Parus''

★
★ White-browed Tit, ''Poecile superciliosa''

★
★ Sombre Tit, ''Poecile lugubris''

★
★ Varied Tit, ''Poecile varia'' - sometimes separated in ''Sittiparus''

★
★
★ Daito Varied Tit, ''Poecile varia orii'' - extinct (c.1940s)

★
★ White-fronted Tit, ''Poecile semilarvata'' - sometimes separated in ''Sittiparus''

★
★ Caspian Tit, ''Poecile hyrcana''

★
★ Père David's Tit, ''Poecile davidi''

★
★ Marsh Tit, ''Poecile palustris''

★
★
★ Black-bibbed Tit, ''Poecile (palustris) hypermelaena''

★
★ Willow Tit, ''Poecile montana''

★
★ Songar Tit, ''Poecile songara''

★
★ Carolina Chickadee, ''Poecile carolinensis''

★
★ Mexican Chickadee, ''Poecile sclateri''

★
★ Black-capped Chickadee, ''Poecile atricapillus''

★
★ Mountain Chickadee, ''Poecile gambeli''

★
★ Siberian Tit or Gray-headed Chickadee, ''Poecile cincta''

★
★ Boreal Chickadee, ''Poecile hudsonica''

★
★ Chestnut-backed Chickadee, ''Poecile rufescens''

★ 'Genus ''Parus''

★
★ Carp's Tit, ''Parus carpi'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ White-bellied Tit, ''Parus albiventris'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ White-shouldered 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''

★
★ White-backed Tit, ''Parus leuconotus'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Dusky Tit, ''Parus funereus'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Rufous-bellied Tit, ''Parus rufiventris'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Cinnamon-breasted Tit, ''Parus pallidiventris'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Red-throated Tit, ''Parus fringillinus'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Stripe-breasted Tit, ''Parus fasciiventer'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Somali Titor Acacia Tit, ''Parus thruppi'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Miombo Tit, ''Parus griseiventris'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Ashy Tit, ''Parus cinerascens'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Southern Grey Tit, ''Parus afer'' - sometimes separated in ''Melaniparus''

★
★ Yellow Tit, ''Parus holsti'' - sometimes separated in ''Macholophus''

★
★ Yellow-cheeked Tit, ''Parus spilonotus''

★
★ Black-lored Tit, ''Parus xanthogenys'' - sometimes separated in ''Macholophus''

★
★ Great Tit, ''Parus major''

★
★ Turkestan Tit, ''Parus bokharensis''

★
★ Japanese Tit, ''Parus minor''

★
★
★ South China Grey Tit, ''Parus minor cinereus''

★
★ Green-backed Tit, ''Parus monticolus''

★
★ White-winged Tit, ''Parus nuchalis''

★ 'Genus ''Pseudopodoces'''

★
★ Hume's Ground Tit, previously "Hume's Ground Jay", ''Pseudopodoces humilis''

This species has only recently been removed from the Crow family Corvidae and placed here.^[1]

References

1. 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


★ '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

★ 'Harrap', Simon & 'Quinn', David (1996): ''Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers''. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-3964-4

★ 'Jønsson', Knud A. & 'Fjeldså', 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. (HTML abstract)

External links

★ Internet Bird Collection: Titmouse videos