White-shouldered black tit
The white-shouldered black tit (Melaniparus guineensis), also known as the pale-eyed black tit, is a passerine bird in the tit family. It breeds in a belt across Africa from Senegal in the west to Kenya and Ethiopia in the east. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the more southerly white-winged black tit Melaniparus leucomelas and, like that species, it is mainly black with a white wing patch, but differs in that it has a pale eye.
| White-shouldered black tit | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Paridae |
| Genus: | Melaniparus |
| Species: | M. guineensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Melaniparus guineensis (Shelley, 1900) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Parus guineensis | |
It is a resident in coniferous woodlands throughout its range, and nests in tree crevice. 4-6 reddish-brown blotched pinkish-white eggs are laid.
The white-shouldered black tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus Parus but was moved to Melaniparus after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 showed that birds in the new genus formed a distinct clade.[1][2]
References
- Johansson, U.S.; Ekman, J.; Bowie, R.C.K.; Halvarsson, P.; Ohlson, J.I.; Price, T.D.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2013). "A complete multilocus species phylogeny of the tits and chickadees (Aves: Paridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69 (3): 852–860. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.019. PMID 23831453.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Waxwings and their allies, tits & penduline tits". World Bird List Version 6.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- Harrap and Quinn, Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers ISBN 0-7136-3964-4