Cinereous Tit Parus cinereus ranges Iran to Indonesia. In China, hainanus endemic to Hainan. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Forests. Inquisitive, active; often on ground. ID & COMPARISON Large, pale tit with long tail. Upperparts blue-grey, sometimes with very faint green wash on mantle (less green than Japanese Tit P. minor commixtus of adjacent mainland). Head mainly black with large, isolated, white cheek patch and small white nape patch. Black bib and belly stripe (broader, longer, and glossier in male). Wing blackish, edged blue-grey; tips of greater coverts white; outer web on tertials broadly edged white. Tail blackish above, white below and on sides. Except for belly stripe, underparts greyish-white with no pinkish wash, unlike commixtus. Juvenile like adult, but duller, with yellow tinge to cheeks, upperparts, and underparts; ventral line duller and shorter (ends on breast); black line under cheek. BARE PARTS Bill black, stouter than commixtus; legs bluish-grey. VOICE Very vocal, with extensive repertoire, including familiar teacher, teacher as well as thin whistles and harsh, unmusical squeaks. — Craig Brelsford
THE TITS AND CHICKADEES OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com covers every species in the family Paridae in China. Click any link:
Fire-capped Tit Cephalopyrus flammiceps
Yellow-browed Tit Sylviparus modestus
Sultan Tit Melanochlora sultanea
Rufous-naped Tit Periparus rufonuchalis
Rufous-vented Tit P. rubidiventris
Coal Tit P. ater
Yellow-bellied Tit Pardaliparus venustulus
Grey Crested Tit Lophophanes dichrous
Varied Tit Sittiparus varius
White-browed Tit Poecile superciliosus
Pere David’s Tit P. davidi
Black-bibbed Tit P. hypermelaenus
Marsh Tit P. palustris
Sichuan Tit P. weigoldicus
Willow Tit P. montanus
Azure Tit Cyanistes cyanus
Ground Tit Pseudopodoces humilis
Great Tit Parus major
Japanese Tit P. minor
Cinereous Tit P. cinereus
Green-backed Tit P. monticolus
Himalayan Black-lored Tit Machlolophus xanthogenys
Yellow-cheeked Tit M. spilonotus
See also these Taiwan endemics:
Chestnut-bellied Tit Sittiparus castaneoventris
Yellow Tit Machlolophus holsti
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
