Black-lored Tit
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| Black-lored Tit | ||||||||||||||
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| Parus xanthogenys Vigors,, 1831 |
The Black-lored Tit, Parus xanthogenys, is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a resident breeder in the Himalayas and peninsular India.
This is a common bird in open tropical forests, but does not occur in Sri Lanka. It is an active and agile feeder, taking insects and spiders from the canopy, and sometimes fruit.
It is an easy tit to recognise in most of India, large in size at 13cm, with a broad black line (broader in the male) down its otherwise yellow front. The large crest, neck, throat and head are black with yellow cheeks and supercilia. Upperparts are olive-green. It has two white or yellowish wingbars and white outer tail feathers.
Females and young birds are duller than males. The underpart colour becomes increasingly dull from north to south through this tit's range.
Black-lored Tit is, like other tits, a vocal bird, and has a large variety of calls, of which the most familiar is a "si-si". The song is a sometimes nuthatch like "chi-chi-chi".
Woodpecker or barbet holes are used for a nest, and this species will also excavate its own whole or use man-made sites. The clutch is typically 3-5 white eggs, spotted red. The bird is a close sitter, hissing when disturbed.
References
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers, Harrap and Quinn, ISBN 0-7136-3964-4