Songar Tit
Encyclopedia
The Songar Tit is a passerine
bird
in the tit family. It is the southern counterpart of the Willow Tit
P. montanus, and is often included in it as a subspecies
.
It breeds in the deciduous mountain forests of southeast Kazakhstan
, Kyrgyzstan
and northern China
.
The 13 cm long Songar Tit has a dark brown cap, blackish bib, rich brown upperparts, white cheeks and cinnamon buff underparts. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are somewhat duller.
The most common call is a nasal zee, zee, zee, but the notes of the bird evidently vary considerably
The Songar Tit usually excavates its own nesting hole, often in a rotten stump or in a tree, more or less decayed. Most nests examined are cups of felted material, such as fur, hair and wood chips, but feather
s are sometimes used. The number of eggs is from five to six, white with small reddish spots or blotches.
They feed on caterpillar
s, insect
s and seeds, much like other tits.
There are four subspecies
(Harrap & Quinn 1996):
Of these, recent genetic evidence suggests that the first three are best included in P. montanus, with only the last being genetically distinct (del Hoyo et al. 2007).
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the tit family. It is the southern counterpart of the Willow Tit
Willow Tit
The Willow Tit is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and northern Asia. It is more of a conifer specialist than the closely related Marsh Tit, which explains it breeding much further north...
P. montanus, and is often included in it as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
.
It breeds in the deciduous mountain forests of southeast Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
and northern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
The 13 cm long Songar Tit has a dark brown cap, blackish bib, rich brown upperparts, white cheeks and cinnamon buff underparts. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are somewhat duller.
The most common call is a nasal zee, zee, zee, but the notes of the bird evidently vary considerably
The Songar Tit usually excavates its own nesting hole, often in a rotten stump or in a tree, more or less decayed. Most nests examined are cups of felted material, such as fur, hair and wood chips, but feather
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
s are sometimes used. The number of eggs is from five to six, white with small reddish spots or blotches.
They feed on caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and seeds, much like other tits.
There are four subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
(Harrap & Quinn 1996):
- Poecile songarus songarus (Severtsov, 1873). Tian ShanTian ShanThe Tian Shan , also spelled Tien Shan, is a large mountain system located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak , ....
mountains. - Poecile songarus affinis (Przevalski, 1876). North-central China.
- Poecile songarus stoetzneri (O. Kleinschmidt, 1921). Northeastern China.
- Poecile songarus weigoldicus (O. Kleinschmidt, 1921). Southwestern China.
Of these, recent genetic evidence suggests that the first three are best included in P. montanus, with only the last being genetically distinct (del Hoyo et al. 2007).