White-winged Tit

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White-winged Tit
Foraging in a toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica)
Foraging in a toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica)
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Parus
Species: P. nuchalis
Binomial name
Parus nuchalis
Jerdon, 1845

This article is about the Indian bird. For the African bird, see White-winged Black Tit.

The White-winged Tit Parus nuchalis, also known as the White-naped Tit, is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is endemic to India.

This species underwent a rapid population decline in the recent past. Its small, severely fragmented population continues to decline, although at a reduced rate, as a result of the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its tropical thorn-scrub habitat. It therefore qualifies as Vulnerable. Current RedDataBook Status is: Vulnerable A1c; C1; C2a [2]

The distinctive black wing coverts set the species apart from other parids in the region

The sympatric Parus major stupae has distinctive grey wing coverts

The species is distributed in scrub forest in the Kutch region of Gujarat in western India and also in small areas in southern India, especially in the Kaveri river valley.[3][4] It uses old woodpeckers nest holes for nesting and roosting.[5]

It breeds after the monsoons from May to August.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Parus nuchalis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006.
  2. ^ BirdLife Species Factsheet
  3. ^ Red Data Book Species Sighting Data
  4. ^ Lott, E. J., & C. Lott. 1999. On the occurrence of White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in S. India. Forktail 15:93-94.[1]
  5. ^ a b Rasmussen, P.C. and Anderton, J.C. (2005) Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions.