Cinereous Tit
Parus cinereus
The Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) is a common tits, chickadees, and titmice found in 24 countries. The cinereous tit or Asian tit is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae.
About the Cinereous Tit
The cinereous tit or Asian tit is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae. This species is made up of several populations that were earlier treated as subspecies of the great tit. These birds are grey backed with white undersides. The great tit in the new sense is distinguishable by the greenish-back and yellowish underside. The distribution of this species extends from parts of West Asia across South Asia and into Southeast Asia. The Japanese tit was formerly treated as a separate species but is now grouped together with the cinereous tit.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
Like others in the genus, it has a broad black ventral line and has no crest. This tit is part of a confusing group of species but is distinct in having a grey-back, black hood, white cheek patch and a white wing-bar. The underparts are white with the black central stripe running along the length. The female has a narrower ventral line and is slightly duller. The upper tail coverts are ashy while the tail is black with the central 4 pairs of feathers ashy on the outer webs and all but the central pair are tipped white.
What the Cinereous Tit sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States.
When to see it
The Cinereous Tit can be seen all year round, with peak activity in February. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Cinereous Tit?
- Like others in the genus, it has a broad black ventral line and has no crest. Full identification notes are on this page.
- Where can you see a Cinereous Tit?
- The Cinereous Tit occurs in 24 countries, including India, Japan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong SAR China.
- What does a Cinereous Tit sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Cinereous Tit on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Cinereous Tit?
- The Cinereous Tit is most easily confused with the Green-backed Tit and the Great Tit.
Learn the Cinereous Tit for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
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