Alternative name: Eastern Great Tit
- Parus minor
Identification
12½–14 cm (5-5½ in)
Similar to Great Tit but underparts lack yellow. Also similar to Cinereous Tit but has green, not gray back.
Distribution
From south-eastern Russia to China, Japan, Korea and south to Burma, northern Thailand, northern Laos and northern Vietnam.
Taxonomy
Formerly included in Great Tit, together with Cinereous Tit.
Subspecies
Clements recognizes 9 subspecies:
- P. m. minor: South-eastern Russia to Japan, Korea, south-western China and eastern Tibet
- P. m. tibetanus: South-western China to south-eastern Tibet; single record from Sikkim
- P. m. subtibetanus: Southern China to south-eastern Tibet and north-western Myanmar
- P. m. nubicolus: South-eastern Myanmar to northern Thailand, northern Laos and extreme western Tonkin
- P. m. dageletensis: Ullung Island (South Korea)
- P. m. amamiensis: Northern Ryukyu Islands (Amami-O-Shima and Tokuno-Shima)
- P. m. okinawae: Central Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa and Yagachi)
- P. m. nigriloris: Southern Ryukyu Islands (Ishigaki and Iriomote)
- P. m. commixtus: Southern China (south of the Yangtze) to Hong Kong and eastern Tonkin
Habitat
Behaviour
Breeding
Breeds in all kinds of woodland (incl. in desolate taiga in far north) and in immediate proximity of man in parks and gardens.
Diet
Insects and seeds, suet, beech nuts etc.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Brazil, M. (2009). Birds of East Asia. Princeton Univ. Press.
- Collar, N.J. & Pilgrim, J.D. (2007). Species-level changes proposed for Asian birds, 2005-2006. Birding Asia, 8:14-30.
- Gosler, A., Clement, P. & Christie, D.A. (2017). Great Tit (Parus major). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/59900 on 22 June 2017).
- Harrap, S. & Quinn. D. (1995) Chickadees, Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers. Princeton Univ. Press.
- Päckert, M., Martens, J., Eck, S., Nazarenko, A.A., Valchuk, O.P., Petri, B. & Veith, M. (2005) The Great Tit (Parus major) - a misclassified ring species. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 86(2): 153–174.
- Päckert, M., & Martens, J. (2008). Taxonomic pitfalls in tits–comments on the Paridae chapter of the Handbook of the Birds of the World. Ibis, 150(4), 829-831.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Japanese Tit. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Japanese_Tit
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
