?Blue Tit Conservation status: Least concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae Genus: Parus Species: P. caeruleus
Binomial name
Parus caeruleus Linnaeus, 1758

The Blue Tit Parus caeruleus (syn. Cyanistes caeruleus), is a 10.5 to 12 cm long passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands. It is a resident bird, i.e., most birds do not migrate. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... Download high resolution version (1120x1016, 249 KB) Blue Tit This image shows a Blue tit. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Myxozoa (slime animals) Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus) Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... {{{subdivision_ranks}}} See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... Genera see text The tits, chickadees, and titmice, family Paridae, are a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa. ... Genera see text The tits, chickadees, and titmice, family Paridae, are a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... In scientific classification, synonymy is the existence of multiple systematic names to label the same organism. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... Genera See text. ... World map showing Europe Political map (neighbouring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Species that periodically migrate are called migratory bird. ... // Long-distance land bird migration Many species of land migratory birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the temperate zones of the southern hemisphere. ...

The azure blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye and encircling the white cheeks to the chin, give the Blue Tit a very distinctive appearance. The forehead, eyestreak, and a bar on the wing are also 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. The young are much yellower than the old birds.

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.

It will nest in any suitable hole in a tree, wall, or stump, or an artificial nest box, often competing with House Sparrows or Great Tits for the site. Few birds more readily accept the shelter of a nesting box; the same hole is returned to year after year, and when one pair dies another takes possession. Binomial name Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) The House Sparrow Passer domesticus) is a member of the Old World sparrow family Passeridae. ... Binomial name Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 The Great Tit, Parus major, is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. ...

The bird is a close sitter, hissing and biting at an intruding finger. When protecting its eggs it raises its crest, but this is a sign of excitement rather than anger, for it is also elevated during nuptial display. The nesting material is usually moss, wool, hair and feathers, and the eggs are laid in April or May. The number in the clutch is often very large, but seven or eight are normal, and bigger clutches are usually laid by two or even more hens.

Blue and Great Tits form mixed winter flocks, and the former are perhaps the better gymnasts in the slender twigs. A Blue Tit 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. Species C. familiaris C. brachydactyla C. americana C. himalayana C. nipalensis C. discolor The treecreepers are a group of very similar small passerines found throughout the Northern hemisphere. ... Species See text Hedera (English name ivy, plural ivies) is a genus of about ten species of climbing or ground-creeping evergreen woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to the Atlantic Islands, western, central and southern Europe, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan. ... A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ...

The Blue Tit 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. Seeds are eaten, as with all this family. Families There are 10 families: Adelgidae - adelgids, conifer aphids, Adelges cooleyi, Hemlock Wolly Adelgid, Adelges piceae Anoeciidae Aphididae Drepanosiphidae Homomasagymibutae Greenideidae Hormaphididae Lachnidae Mindaridae Pemphigidae Phloeomyzidae Phylloxeridae Thelaxidae Aphids, also known as greenfly/blackfly or plant lice, are minute plant-feeding insects in the superfamily Aphidoidea in the homopterous division...

An interesting example of culturally transmitted learning in birds was the phenomenon dating from the 1960s of Blue Tits teaching one another how to open traditional British milk bottles with foil tops to get at the cream underneath. This behaviour has declined recently because of the trend toward buying low-fat (skimmed) milk, and the replacement of doorstep delivery by supermarket purchases of milk. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... A glass of cows milk Milk is the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals (including monotremes). ...

Taxonomic notes

Most authorities retain Cyanistes as a subgenus within a broader view of the genus Parus, but the American Ornithologists' Union treats Cyanistes as a distinct genus. The American Ornithologists Union (AOU) is the oldest and largest organization in the New World devoted to the scientific study of birds. ...

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): To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ...

• Afrocanarian Blue Tit, Parus ultramarinus Bonaparte, 1841 (La Palma, Hierro, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, NW Africa)
• Canary Islands Blue Tit, 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 nominate subspecies and the unnamed distinct form of Gran Canaria. Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (May 24, 1803 _ July 29, 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithologist. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... René Lesson. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Pleske's Tit (Parus/Cyanistes x pleskei) is a not uncommonly found hybrid between this species and the Azure Tit in western Russia. // In biology, hybrid has two meanings. ... Binomial name Parus cyanus Pallas, 1770 The Azure Tit, Parus cyanus , sometimes Cyanistes cyanus , is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. ...

Gallery

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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
• 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: Broggi, J.; Illera, J.C.; Koivula, K. (2005): Colonisation and diversification of the blue tits (Parus caeruleus teneriffae-group) in the Canary Islands. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34: 501–511. DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.017 (HTML abstract)
• Sangster, George (2006): The taxonomic status of 'phylogroups' in the Parus teneriffae complex (Aves): Comments on the paper by Kvist et al. (2005). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 38: 288–289. DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.009 (HTML abstract)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a permanent identifier (permalink) given to a World Wide Web file or other Internet document so that if its Internet address changes, users will be redirected to its new address. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a permanent identifier (permalink) given to a World Wide Web file or other Internet document so that if its Internet address changes, users will be redirected to its new address. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a permanent identifier (permalink) given to a World Wide Web file or other Internet document so that if its Internet address changes, users will be redirected to its new address. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Parus caeruleus

• ARKive - images and movies of the blue tit (Parus caeruleus)
• The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (Blue Tit)
• Sample of the Blue Tit's song
• Blue Tit videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Blue Tit nest 2006 part (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11) at Google Video
• young Blue Tits leave the nest for the first time at Google Video