The
Willow Tit (
Poecile montanus) is a
passerineA 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:...
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
in the
titThe tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa...
family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and northern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. It is more of a conifer specialist than the closely related
Marsh TitThe Marsh Tit Poecile palustris is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae and genus Poecile, closely related to the Willow, Père David's and Songar Tits. It is small with a black crown and nape, pale cheeks, brown back and greyish-brown wings and tail. Between 8 and 11 subspecies are recognised...
, which explains it breeding much further north. It is resident, and most birds do not
migrateBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
.
In the east of its range it is much paler than Marsh Tit, but as one goes west the various races become increasingly similar, so much so that it was not recognised as a breeding bird in
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
until the end of the 19th century, despite being widespread.
The Willow Tit is distinguished from the Marsh Tit by a sooty brown instead of a glossy blue black cap; the general colour is otherwise similar, though the under parts are more buff and the flanks distinctly more rufous; the pale buff edgings to the secondaries form a light patch on the closed wing.
The
Willow Tit (
Poecile montanus) is a
passerineA 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:...
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
in the
titThe tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa...
family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and northern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. It is more of a conifer specialist than the closely related
Marsh TitThe Marsh Tit Poecile palustris is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae and genus Poecile, closely related to the Willow, Père David's and Songar Tits. It is small with a black crown and nape, pale cheeks, brown back and greyish-brown wings and tail. Between 8 and 11 subspecies are recognised...
, which explains it breeding much further north. It is resident, and most birds do not
migrateBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
.
In the east of its range it is much paler than Marsh Tit, but as one goes west the various races become increasingly similar, so much so that it was not recognised as a breeding bird in
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
until the end of the 19th century, despite being widespread.
The Willow Tit is distinguished from the Marsh Tit by a sooty brown instead of a glossy blue black cap; the general colour is otherwise similar, though the under parts are more buff and the flanks distinctly more rufous; the pale buff edgings to the secondaries form a light patch on the closed wing. The feathers of the crown and the black bib under the bill are longer, but this is not an easily noticed character. However, the more graduated tail (not square) shows distinctly when spread. Length is 11.5 cm, and wings range from 60-70 mm.
The commonest call is a nasal
zee, zee, zee, but the notes of the bird evidently vary considerably. Occasionally a double note,
ipsee, ipsee, is repeated four or five times.
The Willow Tit often excavates its own nesting hole, even piercing hard bark; this is usually 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
featherFeathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates. They are among the outstanding characteristics that distinguish the extant Aves from other living groups....
s are sometimes used. The number of eggs varies from six to nine, with reddish spots or blotches.
Birds feed on
caterpillarCaterpillars are the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly phytophagous in food habit, with some species being entomophagous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered pests in agriculture...
s,
insectInsects are arthropods, having a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and include more than a million species that are already described. Insects represent more than half of all...
s and seeds, much like other tits.
Systematics
Most authorities retain
Poecile as a subgenus within the genus
Parus, but the
American Ornithologists' UnionThe American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
treats it as a distinct
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
. This is supported by mtDNA
cytochrome bCytochrome b/b6 is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. In addition, it commonly refers to a region of mtDNA used for population genetics and phylogenetics.- Function :...
sequenceA DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, with the capacity to carry information as described by the central dogma of molecular biology....
analysis; within
Poecile, the Willow Tit is part of a group of Eurasian "typical chickadees" that includes also the Marsh Tit, Père David's Tit, and the
Songar TitThe Songar Tit is a passerine bird in the tit family. It is the southern counterpart of the Willow Tit P...
(Gill et al. 2005, del Hoyo et al. 2007).
The genus name has often been treated as feminine (giving the species name ending
montana); however, this was not specified by the original genus author
Johann Jakob KaupJohann Jakob Kaup was a German naturalist.He was born at Darmstadt. After studying at Göttingen and Heidelberg he spent two years at Leiden, where his attention was specially devoted to the amphibians and fishes. He then returned to Darmstadt as an assistant in the grand ducal museum, of which in...
, and under the
ICZNThe International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is both a book containing a set of rules and recommendations on the formal naming of animals, and that set itself. Among zoologists it is often referred to simply as "the Code"...
the genus name must therefore be treated by default as masculine, giving the name ending
montanus (del Hoyo et al. 2007). At one time the Willow Tit was considered con-specific with the Black-Capped Chickadee of North America due to their very similar appearance. In fact the Willow Tit, Black-Capped Chickadee, Marsh Tit and Carolina Chickadee are all very similar to one another in appearance.
Trivia
The bird was immortalised in
Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's 1885
operettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Operetta in French:...
,
The MikadoThe Mikado or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, in the song "Willow Tit Willow".