Azure Tit - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Ivan S
Öland, Sweden, October, 2016

Cyanistes cyanus

Includes: Yellow-breasted Tit

Identification

12-13 cm (4¾-5 in)

White head
Dark line through eye
Blue upperparts with white wing bars
White tail corners

Distribution

Photo by Pavel
Pripyatsky National Park, Belarus, May 2008

Europe and Asia
Eastern Europe: Scandinavia: Finland. Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania, Ukraine
Asia: Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Pakistan

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Yellow-breasted Tit
Photo by Askar Isabekov
Hoja Obigarm, Pamir, Tajikistan, March 2008

There are 8 subspecies in two groups^[1]:

Azure Tit

C. c. cyanus:

European Russia to basin of middle Volga River

C. c. hyperrhiphaeus:

Eastern European Russia to western Siberia and northern Kazakstan

C. c. koktalensis:

Lowlands of south-eastern Kazakstan (south of Lake Balkhash)

C. c. tianschanicus:

South-eastern Kazakstan to north-western China, Manchuria and Pakistan

C. c. yenisseensis:

South-eastern Siberia to Sea of Japan and lower Amur River

Yellow-breasted Tit

C. c. carruthersi:

Western Pamir Mountains to Fergana basin and eastern Alayskiy Mountains

C. c. flavipectus:

Western Tien Shan Mountains to northern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan

C. c. berezowskii:

North-central China (east Qinghai south of Kokonor on Upper Hwang Ho)

Habitat

Marshes, scrub and mixed woodlands and temperate and sub-arctic regions.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects and seeds.

Breeding

Up to 10 eggs are laid in a tree hole.

Vocalisation

Call: dee, dee, dee or a scolding churr.
Song: tsi-tsi-tshurr-tsi-tsi-tshurr.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Wikipedia

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Azure Tit. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Azure_Tit

External Links

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