White-browed tit

Not to be confused with white-browed tit-warbler or white-browed tit-spinetail.

White-browed tit
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Poecile
Species:
P. superciliosus
Binomial name
Poecile superciliosus

The white-browed tit (Poecile superciliosus, formerly Parus 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]

  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.