The azure tit (''Cyanistes cyanus'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the tit

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and northwest China, Manchuria and Pakistan. It is found in temperate and subarctic deciduous or mixed woodlands, scrub and marshes. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate. It nests in a tree hole, laying about 10 eggs. The bird is a close sitter, hissing and biting when disturbed. Its food is insects, seeds, small invertebrates, larvae of bugs, and eggs. This 12–13 cm bird is unmistakable. The head, tail corners, wing bars and underparts are white. There is a dark line through the eye, and the upperparts are blue. This is the eastern counterpart of the common

Eurasian blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are ...

. It will hybridise with that species, but the offspring usually show a blue crown, rather than the white of azure tit. The calls are similar to blue tit, calling ' or a scolding '. The song is a ', which has been described as intermediate between blue tit and

crested tit The crested tit or European crested tit (''Lophophanes cristatus'') (formerly ''Parus cristatus''), is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and north ...

Taxonomy

For many years the azure tit was known as ''Parus cyanus''. In 2005, analysis of the

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

cytochrome ''b''

sequences In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called t ...

of the Paridae indicated that ''Cyanistes'' was an early offshoot from the lineage of other tits, and more accurately regarded as a genus rather than a subgenus of ''

Parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed mo ...

''. The azure tit not infrequently hybridizes with the

blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are ...

in western Russia; the resulting birds are called Pleske's tit (''Cyanistes'' × ''pleskei'') and were once considered a distinct species. The population in central Asia, yellow-breasted tit (''C. c. flavipectus'' or ''Parus flavipectus''), is sometimes included as a subspecies of the azure tit.

Gallery

File:azuretit48.jpg, Illustration of azure tit with "Pleske's tit" below File:Cyanistes cyanus MWNH 1411.JPG, Eggs,

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Collection

References

*Harrap, Simon & Quinn, David (1996): ''Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the '' Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar ...

, London. {{Taxonbar, from=Q499283

azure tit The azure tit (''Cyanistes cyanus'') is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout Russia and Central Asia and northwest China, Manchuria and Pakistan. It is found in temperate and sub ...

Birds of Russia Birds of Eurasia