Cinereous Tit

The Cinereous tit is a beautiful little bird. They belong to the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum is Chordata, the Class is Aves, the Order is Passeriformes, the Family is Paridae, the Genus is Parus, the Binomial name is Parus cinereus.

The colors of the major topographical elements are...

Beak: Grey.

Head: Black.

Iris: Black.

Pupil: Black.

Mantle: Slaty.

Lesser coverts: Slaty.

Scapulars: Slaty.

Coverts: Light-brown with fine lines, has a white wing-bar.

Tertials: Light-brown with fine lines and has a white wing-bar all at the upper-half of the wing. Three white stripes and two black stripes at the lower-half of the wing.

Rump: Unknown.

Primaries: Light-brown.

Vent: White.

Thigh: White.

Tibio-tarsal articulation: Yellow.

Tarsus: Yellow.

Feet: Black.

Tibia: Yellow.

Belly: White or grey, big black stripe in the middle.

Flanks: White or grey.

Breast: White or grey, big black stripe in the middle.

Throat: Black.

They weigh 15 to 20 grams, they are 12 to 14 centimetres in length.

Extra Information
The Cinereous tit has white undersides, the Cinereous tit has a broad black ventral line. white cheek patch. The Cinereous tit has a black central stripe from the throat to the belly. The female Cinereous tit's ventral line is narrow and dull compared to the male Cinereous tit.

The uppertail coverts of the Cinereous tit are ashy and the tail is black with 4 central pairs of feathers ashy on the outer webs and all but the central pair are tipped white, the fifth pair of central feathers is white of the Cinereous tit with a black rachis and a band of black on the inner web.

The outermost pair of tail feathers of the Cinereous tit are white with a black shaft. The undertail coverts of the Cinereous tit are black near the centre and white on the sides.

Behaviour
The Cinereous tit is found in pairs or small groups that can join mixed-flocks. The Cinereous tit finds food by gleaning caterpillars, bugs and beetles that get disturbed, the Cinereous tit also eats buds and fruits.

The Cinereous tit holds caterpillars,bugs and beetles in it's legs to tear it. The Cinereous tit wedges hard seeds inside a bark crevice and then it starts hammering it with it's beak.

Sounds
The Cinereous tit produces calls like whistling titiweesi titiweesi witsi-seesee, other variants exist which are repeated three or four times and also has breaks. The whistling titiweesi titiweesi witsi-seesee is persistent in the breeding season.

Diet
The Cinereous tit eats caterpillars, bugs, flies and beetles.

Habitat
Parus cinereus caschmirensis is found in the Western Himalayas, the Parus cinereus caschmirensis has a grey nuchal patch.

Parus cinereus nipalensis is found in the Subhimalayas and planorum in the Punjab plains.

Parus cinereus vauriei is found in NE Indian Subcontinent.

Parus cinereus stupae is found in Peninsular India.

Breeding & Nesting
The adult female Cinereous tit lays 4 to 6 eggs. The breeding season of the Cinereous tit is summer and it can vary in different places. The Cinereous tit can raise more broods than one. The Cinereous tit in southern India breeds in February to May or before the monsoon and nests of the Cinereous tit are seen from September to November.

The nest of the Cinereous tit is inside tree-hollows, walls or mud-banks with a narrow entrance hole and the floor is lined with moss, hair and feathers. The Cinereous tit can also use the nest of a woodpecker or barbet. Both the adult female Cinereous tit and the adult male Cinereous tit do incubation and hissing from the nest if threatened. The Cinereous tit can roost in cut bamboo.

Threats, Predators & Conservation Status
Flea Ceratophyllus gallinae is found in the nests of Cinereous tit. This is one the causes of concern. However it is listed as Least Concern status in the IUCN Red List.