The Indian black-lored tit, Indian tit, or Indian yellow tit (Grimmett ''et al.'', 2011) (''Machlolophus aplonotus'') 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 th ...

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 lightweig ...

in the tit

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

Paridae. The yellow-cheeked tit is probably its closest relative, and both may be related to the

yellow tit The yellow tit, Taiwan yellow tit, or Formosan yellow tit (''Machlolophus holsti'') is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is endemic to central Taiwan. Its natural habitat is montane temperate forest. It has a restricted range and small ...

. These three tits almost certainly form a distinct lineage as evidenced by

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

, and

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''

sequence 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 calle ...

analysis (Gill ''et al.'', 2005). The subgenus name ''Macholophus'' may apply for them. This

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

is a resident breeder on the Indian subcontinent. It 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 13 cm, 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. It 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 The nuthatches () constitute a genus, ''Sitta'', of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. M ...

-like ''chi-chi-chi''.

Woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

or barbet holes are used for a nest, and this species will also excavate its own hole or use man-made sites. The clutch is typically 3–5 white eggs, spotted red. The bird is a close sitter, hissing when disturbed. The Indian black-lored tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus ''

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 ...

'' but was moved to ''

Machlolophus ''Machlolophus'' is a genus of birds in the tit family. The species were formerly placed with many others in the genus ''Parus'' but were moved to ''Machlolophus'' based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 that showed that the ...

'' after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 showed that the members of the new genus formed a distinct clade.

References

* *Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): ''Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives''. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. *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. *Rasmussen, P.C., and J.C. Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia. The Ripley guide. Volume 2: attributes and status. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington D.C. and Barcelona. *Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol & Inskipp, Tim (2011) : ''Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, second edition''. Oxford University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Black-Lored Tit Machlolophus Birds of India Birds described in 1847 Taxa named by Edward Blyth