The genus Poecile was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829.[3] The type species was subsequently designated as the marsh tit (Poecile palustris) by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1842.[4][5] The name Poecile is from Ancient Greekpoikilos "colourful". A related word poikilidos denoted an unidentified small bird.[6] It has traditionally been treated as feminine (giving name endings such as cincta); however, this was not specified by the original genus author Johann Jakob Kaup, and under the ICZN the genus name must therefore be treated by default as masculine, giving name endings such as cinctus.[1]
Phylogeny of the Poecile based on Tritsch et al. 2017.[7]
^ abGosler, A.; Clement, P.; Bonan, A. (2019) [2007]. del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Tits and Chickadees (Paridae)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.parida1.01. S2CID216446005. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
^Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
^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. PMID27965081.