Cinereous Tit

Overview

Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) is a species of Tits, Chickadees (Paridae) in the order Perching Birds (Passerines).

Scientific Classification

Genus: Parus; binomial: Parus cinereus; authority: Vieillot, 1818.

Distribution

Breeding range: the Oriental Region, the Palearctic and Australasia.

Conservation Status

This taxon is listed as Extant (living) in the IOC World Bird List.

Remarks

Parus cinereus and Parus minor were previously split from P. major as two species: Cinereous Tit and Japanese Tit (Päckert et al. 2005; Eck & Martens 2006; Collar 2007; Zhao et al. 2012). But the genetic analyses by Päckert & Martens (2008), Zhao et al. (2012) and Song et al. (2020) suggest that the Parus major complex may be better interpreted as comprising two species: East Asian P. cinereus (cinereus + minor) which forms a sister clade to Palearctic P. major (major + bokharensis). (WGAC #1100). "Cinereous Tit" is tentatively assigned as the English name for the lumped species.