Tail tits

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Tail tits
Tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Tailed tit ( Aegithalos caudatus )

Systematics
Subclass : New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
without rank: Passerida
Superfamily : Sylvioidea
Family : Tail tits
Scientific name
Aegithalidae
Reichenbach , 1850

The tailed tits (Aegithalidae) are a family from the order of the passerine birds (Passeriformes). In addition to the genus Aegithalos, this includes the two monotypical genera Psaltriparus and Psaltria and thus eight species. The status of the two-species genus Leptopoecile , which was previously assigned to the warblers (Sylviidae), and which, according to more recent studies of mitochondrial DNA, is now often assigned to the tail tits , is unclear .

The tail tits are small, tit-like birds with short wings, quite long tails and fine, short beaks with a curved ridge. The plumage is loose and wide-rayed. The eye is lined with a narrow, colored (mostly yellow) skin ring. Sex dimorphism is almost non-existent. In contrast to the titmouse proper , the newly hatched young birds are naked and have a shorter nestling time. They also go through a juvenile full moult . The tailed tits also differ significantly from the Paridae in terms of their vocal expressions . In fact, the tailed Tits are not particularly closely related to the actual titmice (Paridae) and the bag chickadees related (Remizidae) but are the Wüstenprinie and Cettiidae as Schwestertaxon opposite.

The brood distribution of the family extends over Eurasia (6 or 8 species), Java and western North America (1 species each).

The nest is a closed building with a side entrance. It usually consists of moss, lichen, other parts of plants and cobwebs, more rarely of dry twigs. The eggs are usually pure white or have a fine brownish speckle on the blunt pole and therefore resemble those of the golden cockerel (Regulidae) rather than those of the titmouse itself.

Tailed tits (here some juveniles of Aegithalos caudatus ) show a pronounced social behavior
The closed nest (here from Psaltriparus minimus ) consists mostly of lichens and mosses

The tailed tits are very social and live in small groups outside of the breeding season, within which an individual distance is hardly pronounced and sleeping communities with very close physical contact are often formed. A couple is often assisted in rearing the young by other individuals from the flock not this year. The swarms have a group territory, within which the individual territories are usually also formed during the breeding season. The latter are only defended against conspecifics from the swarm for a short time, a territorial song is missing.

Since these and a few other characteristics are typical of many tropical species, it has been discussed whether the family originally came from tropical latitudes.

species

Genus Aegithalos

Genus Psaltria (partly classified under Aegithalos )

  • Java-tailed tit , pygmy tit or little-tailed tit ( Psaltria exilis ) - Java

Genus Psaltriparus

  • Busch Meise ( Psaltriparus minimus ) - Western North America

Genus Leptopoecile (previously assigned to Sylviidae)

literature

Web links

Commons : Aegithalidae  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See note on taxonomy at http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/white-browed-tit-warbler-leptopoecile-sophiae
  2. ↑ Silke Fregin, Martin Haase, Urban Olsson, Per Alström: New insights into family relationships within the avian superfamily Sylvioidea (Passeriformes) based on seven molecular markers. In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. 12 (1), 157, 2012, pp. 1-12.