Blue Tit - Business

taxonomy a perching on a branch. this species was first described by linnaeus in his systema naturae in 1758 as parus caeruleus. most authorities retain cyanistes as a subgenus of parus, but the british ornithologists' union treats cyanistes as a distinct genus. this is supported by mtdna cytochrome b sequence analysis which suggests that cyanistes is not only distinct, but not close to other tits (gill et al., 2005). subspecies the systematics of the complex are unsettled. there are at least nine recognised subspecies: c. c. caeruleus (linnaeus, 1758), the nominate subspecies, occurring in continental europe to n spain, sicily, n turkey and n urals c. c. obscurus (prazk, 1894), ireland, britain and channel islands c. c. ogilastrae (hartert, 1905), portugal, s spain, corsica and sardinia c. c. balearicus (von jordans, 1913), majorca island (balearic islands) c. c. calamensis (parrot, 1908), s greece, pelopnnisos, cyclades, crete and rhodes c. c. orientalis (zarudny & loudo n, 1905), s european russia (volga river to central and s urals) c. c. satunini (zarudny, 1908), crimean peninsula, caucasus, transcaucasia and nw iran to e turkey c. c. raddei (zarudny, 1908), n iran c. c. persicus (blanford, 1873), zagros mountains the two traditional subspecies found in the canary islands (teneriffae) and northwest africa from northern morocco to northern libya (ultramarinus) are distinctive. the canary islands subspecies has a black cap, and the african form has a blue back. research is underway to split these populations into distinct species, with a peculiar "leapfrog" distribution (kvist et al., 2005; kvist, 2006; sangster, 2006): afrocanarian or ultramarine tit, parus ultramarinus bonaparte, 1841 (la palma, hierro, fuerteventura, lanzarote, nw africa) canary islands , parus teneriffae lesson, 1831 (tenerife, la gomera, gran canaria) the former would contain three or four subspecies (palmensis, ombriosus and ultramarinus/degener), the latter the nomin ate p. t. teneriffae and the unnamed distinct form of gran canaria. pleske's tit (cyanistes pleskei) is a not uncommon hybrid between this species and the azure tit in western russia. description the azure blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye and encircling the white cheeks to the chin give the a very distinctive appearance. the forehead and a bar on the wing are white. the nape, wings and tail are blue; the back is yellowish green; the under parts mostly sulphur-yellow with a dark line down the abdomen. the bill is black, the legs bluish grey, and the irides dark brown. young s are noticeably more yellow. this is a common and popular european garden bird, due to its perky acrobatic performances when feeding on nuts or suet. it swings beneath the holder, calling tee, tee, tee or a scolding churr. the song period lasts almost all the year round, but is most often heard during february to june. behaviour blue and great tits form mixed winter flocks, and the fo rmer are perhaps the better gymnasts in the slender twigs. a will often ascend a trunk in short jerky hops, imitating a treecreeper. as a rule the bird roosts in ivy or evergreens, but in hard weather will shelter in a hole. s are very agile and can hang from almost anywhere. the has an average life expectancy of 1.5 years diet the is a valuable destroyer of pests, though it has not an entirely clean sheet as a beneficial species. it is fond of young buds of various trees, and may pull them to bits in the hope of finding insects. no species, however, destroys more coccids and aphids, the worst foes of many plants. it takes leaf miner grubs and green tortrix moths (tortricidae). seeds are eaten, as with all this family. learning an interesting example of culturally transmitted learning in birds was the phenomenon dating from the 1960s of s teaching one another how to open traditional british milk bottles with foil tops, to get at the cream underneath. this behaviour has decli ned recently because of the trend toward buying low-fat (skimmed) milk, and the replacement of doorstep delivery by supermarket purchases of milk. conservation populations often decrease considerably during harsh winters or after poor breeding seasons where the weather is cold and wet, particularly if this coincides with the emergence of the caterpillars on which the nestlings are fed. references ^ birdlife international (2004). parus caeruleus. 2006. iucn red list of threatened species. iucn 2006. retrieved on 12 may 2006. database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern ^ (latin) linnaeus, c (1758). systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. tomus i. editio decima, reformata.. holmiae. (laurentii salvii).. pp. 190. "p. remigibus caerulescentibus : primoribus margine exteriore albis, fronte alba, vertice caeruleo." gill, frank b.; beth slikas and freder ick h. sheldon (2005). "phylogeny of titmice (paridae): ii. species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene.". auk 122: 121143. doi: 10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0121:potpis]2.0.co;2 html abstract kvist, laura (2006). "response to "taxonomic status of 'phylogroups' in the parus teneriffae complex (aves)" by george sangster". molecular phylogenetics and evolution 38: 290. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.012 (html abstract) kvist, laura; j. broggi, j.c illera, and k. koivula (2005). "colonisation and diversification of the s (parus caeruleus teneriffae-group) in the canary islands". molecular phylogenetics and evolution 34: 501511. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.017 (html abstract) sangster, george (2006). c status of "phylogroups" in the parus teneriffae complex (aves): comments on the paper by kvist et al. (2005). molecular phylogenetics and evolution. 38. pp. 288289. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.009 (html abstract) external links wikimedia commons has media related to: parus caeruleus arkive - images and movies of the (parus caeruleus) the royal society for the protection of birds () videos, photos & sounds on the internet bird collection. nest 2006 part (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11) at google video young s leave the nest for the first time at google video ageing and sexing (pdf) by javier blasco-zumeta - ysgol bod alaw - web cam bird intelligence: the blue tit categories: iucn red list least concern species | cyanistes | birds of europe | birds of turkey | birds of lithuania

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