Coal Tit

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Coal Tit
Parus ater 2 (Marek Szczepanek) .jpg

Coal Tit ( Periparus ater )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
without rank: Passerida
Family : Titmouse (Paridae)
Genre : Periparus
Type : Coal Tit
Scientific name
Periparus ater
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Distribution areas of the coal tit
  • Year-round occurrence
  • Wintering areas
    • Coal Tit (sitting on a clothesline)
    Coal tit UK09.JPG

    The tit ( Periparus ater , Syn. : Parus ater ; to Latin ater , dark ') is a bird art in the family of tits (Paridae). In Central Europe, the coal tit is a widespread and very frequent breeding and annual bird.

    description

    Parus ater01.jpg

    The coal tit is almost 11 centimeters long and weighs between 8 and 10 grams. It has a black crown with a characteristic white patch on the neck, which stands out as a white vertical stripe from the rest of the black neck plumage. She has white or whitish cheeks and a black chin flap. The underside is yellowish to whitish with cream-colored flanks. The top is bluish gray to olive gray with a narrow double white wing band.

    The calls sound soft, thin like "si-si" or whirring "sirrrrr". The singing is a high, fast and quiet "wize-wize-wize".

    ecology

    distribution

    The coal tit is a breeding bird of the boreal , temperate and sometimes the Mediterranean zone as well as of the mountain regions of the Palearctic . The distribution area extends from the west coast of Europe and north Africa to the Pacific including Japan. The coal tit is absent in Europe only in the lowland areas of the Mediterranean, in western France and on the western coast of the Black Sea. There are many isolated mountain forest occurrences on the southern edge of the area in Asia.

    The population in Europe comprises between 12 and 29 million breeding pairs. In the short term, there may be considerable fluctuations in the population, as coal tits migrate when the population density is high, the seed supply changes in winter or due to climatic factors. The lowest stand numbers coincide with severe winters with poorly growing spruce trees.

    nutrition

    The diet consists of insects and seeds from various conifers .

    habitat

    The preferred habitat is the coniferous forest . In mixed forests they look for the conifers . In southern Europe , coal tits are also found in deciduous forests ; in Western Europe they also inhabit gardens . As a result of high progeny, the species tends to invade unpopulated areas. In its vast trans-Palearctic distribution area, which stretches from the Atlantic coast across Eurasia to the Pacific coast, the coal tit is a frequent breeding bird. In Central Europe, it is widely represented in coniferous and mixed forests from the lowlands to the tree line.

    Breeding biology

    Coal tit eggs ( Museum Wiesbaden collection )

    The coal tit lays its nest not only in tree hollows, but also in rock hollows, burrows and crevices. It consists of moss , roots , stalks, lichen and wool. The breeding season in Central Europe extends from April to July. The female incubates 5–12, usually 8–9 eggs for a period of 13 to 16 days. The young are fledged after 18 to 21 days.

    Subspecies

    So far, 21 subspecies are known:

    Single receipts

    1. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 112
    2. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 113
    3. ^ IOC World Bird List Finches, Waxwings and allies, tits, penduline tits

    literature

    Web links

    Commons : Coal Tit  - album with pictures, videos and audio files