Hume's Ground Tit
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The ground tit, Tibetan ground-tit or Hume's ground-tit (''Pseudopodoces humilis'') is a
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
of the Tibetan plateau north of the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
. The peculiar appearance confused ornithologists in the past who called it as Hume's groundpecker and still later as Hume's ground jay or Tibetan ground jay assuming it belonged to the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Corvidae Corvidae is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan Family (biology), family of Songbird, oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, Rook (bird), rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and Nutcracker (bird), nutcrackers ...
that includes the crows and jays. Although morphologically confusing, the
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
has since been identified using molecular sequence comparisons as being a member of the tit family (Paridae) and is the only species in the
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Pseudopodoces''.James ''et al.'' (2003), del Hoyo ''et al.'' (2007) It is found in the Tibetan Plateau of China, India, Nepal & Bhutan.


Description

''Pseudopodoces'' is somewhat similar in appearance to the unrelated
ground jay The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus ''Podoces'' of the crow family Corvidae. They inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia. Ground jays show adapt ...
s (''Podoces''), but much smaller – about the size of a
house sparrow The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the Old World sparrow, sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pa ...
(''Passer domesticus'') – and lacks any conspicuous markings. More distinctly however, it resembles a
wheatear The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus ''Oenanthe''. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. This is an Old World group, but ...
(''Oenanthe'') in habitus, but lacks black feathers and has a strong and slightly downcurved bill resembling that of a
chough A chough ( ) is any of two species of passerine birds that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax'') and the Alpine chough (or yellow-billed chough) (''Pyr ...
(''Pyrrhocorax'') in shape (though not in colour). Its soft, lax body
plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...
is extremely cryptic in its natural
habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
. The underside is a greyish-
fawn A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family (biology), family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, a ...
in colour, with a tawny hue. The upper parts are mostly a darker fawn-brown, with the central
rectrices Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the Bird wing, wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those ...
and the primary
remiges Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the ta ...
a little darker still; the head is coloured like the underside, with a darker cap and light nape patch, fairly reminiscent of some tits and chickadees, especially those from the
genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
''
Parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family Paridae. 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 deta ...
sensu stricto'' and ''
Periparus ''Periparus'' is a genus of birds in the tit (bird), tit family. The birds in the genus were formerly included in ''Parus'' but were moved to ''Periparus'' when ''Parus'' was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a d ...
''. The bill, legs and feet are black. Males and females look alike.Londei (1998), del Hoyo ''et al.'' (2007) The voice is described as a plaintive whistling, ''cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep'' and it also has a two syllable
finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...
-like call.


Systematics

The ground tit was traditionally considered a relative of the
ground jay The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus ''Podoces'' of the crow family Corvidae. They inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia. Ground jays show adapt ...
s (''Podoces''), based on its voice and habits. Its autapomorphies have certainly puzzled 20th century
ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
s, but due to its remote range and undistinguished appearance, it was barely studied and not suspected to be anything besides an aberrant ground jay for more than 100 years after its description by Hume. In 1978 and 1989 however, two studies of its
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
determined that, although unassignable to any
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
back then due to its peculiar adaptations, it appeared to not be a corvid, but a more advanced songbird of the
infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...
today known as
Passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorde ...
. From 2003 onwards, osteological,
mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...
and
nDNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. It ...
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 cal ...
and other
biochemical Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, ...
data has firmly allied it with the tits and chickadees (
Paridae The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Many were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Eurasian and African members of this f ...
). In fact, genetic evidence suggests that it is a closer relative of the
great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...
and its relatives in the genus ''Parus sensu stricto'' than the chickadees and their relatives of the genus ''
Poecile ''Poecile'' is a genus of birds in the tit (bird), tit family Paridae. It contains 15 species, which are scattered across North America, Europe and Asia; the North American species are the chickadees. In the past, most authorities retained ''Poe ...
''.


Ecology

It occurs across the
Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...
of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and the neighbouring areas of western
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
and
Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
. The Tibetan ground-tit inhabits open alpine steppe and sometimes more
arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...
regions with small scattered shrubs, rarely if ever occurring lower than 3,000 meters
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. It is not found any place where dense vegetation (especially trees) predominates. The flight of this bird is not strong and it flies low over the ground preferring to run or jump out of the way if approached which it does very quickly. It moves on the ground in unpredictable hops and bounces which can be quite long – jumps of three times the bird's length are achieved without assistance by the wings – rather than striding or running like ''
Podoces The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus ''Podoces'' of the crow family Corvidae. They inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia. Ground jays show adapt ...
'' ground jays. Observers have compared the sight of a Tibetan ground-tit moving along to a small greyish-brown
rubber ball A bouncy ball or rubber ball is a spherical toy ball, usually fairly small, made of elastic material which allows it to bounce against hard surfaces. When thrown against a hard surface, bouncy balls retain their momentum and much of their kine ...
. It obtains food on the ground, eating a wide range of
arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
prey, often gathered by probing yak (''Bos grunniens'') dung and turning it over to flush the prey out. It also peers into rock crevices and into holes in the ground in its search for food. Individuals have been observed to poke mud in and near
puddle A puddle is a very small accumulation of liquid, usually water, on a surface. It can form either by pooling in a depression on the surface, or by surface tension upon a flat surface. Puddles are often characterized by murky water or mud due to t ...
s like
hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "Crest (feathers), crown" of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Two living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many y ...
s (''Upupa epops''). In general the bill is extensively used for digging, much like the similarly-shaped one of the
red-billed chough The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough ( ; ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus ''Pyrrhocorax''. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the we ...
(''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''). If chased by a
bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...
or other predator, it will bolt straight down the nearest hole like a
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
until the danger has passed. They are frequently found near colonies of
pika A pika ( , or ) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears. ...
s (''Ochotona''). Though the birds and the mammals probably benefit from each other's vigilance, their association is most likely less due to a strong mutualism, but rather because both prefer
habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
with similar ground cover and
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
. The nest is rather unusual for that of 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 generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
, being built inside a burrow which the birds excavate themselves. It is usually dug horizontally into a bank or wall of earth, and can reach a depth of 1.8 meters. The nest is positioned at the end of this in a small chamber and typically consists of a tiny amount of wool placed onto a grass base. The 4–6 eggs are pure white and the young stay with their parents for some time after fledging; half-grown young are still fed by their parents on occasion as late as August. Cooperative breeding occurs in this species, with monogamous pairs frequently having at least one male helper who are yearlings which remain on the natal territory. This behaviour is thought to occur as a result of there being a shortage of males in the population. The ground tit is not a
migratory bird Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. Th ...
, but may descend to lower altitudes in valleys during the winter. In addition to digging nesting burrows, ground-tits frequently dig roosting burrows to use during the coldest months.del Hoyo ''et al.'' (2007), Ke & Lu (2009)


Footnotes


References

* * del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Christie, D. (eds.) (2007): '' Handbook of Birds of the World'' (Vol. 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. * * * * *


External links


Cyberbirding
Images of Hume's ground tits and their habitat {{Taxonbar, from=Q1392005
ground tit The ground tit, Tibetan ground-tit or Hume's ground-tit (''Pseudopodoces humilis'') is a bird of the Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas. The peculiar appearance confused ornithologists in the past who called it as Hume's groundpecker and stil ...
Birds of Tibet
ground tit The ground tit, Tibetan ground-tit or Hume's ground-tit (''Pseudopodoces humilis'') is a bird of the Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas. The peculiar appearance confused ornithologists in the past who called it as Hume's groundpecker and stil ...
ground tit The ground tit, Tibetan ground-tit or Hume's ground-tit (''Pseudopodoces humilis'') is a bird of the Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas. The peculiar appearance confused ornithologists in the past who called it as Hume's groundpecker and stil ...