The Palawan tit (''Pardaliparus amabilis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the tit

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Paridae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

and the smaller islands of Calauit and

Balabac Balabac Island is the southernmost island of Palawan province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the Philippines, some north of Sabah, Malaysia, across the Balabac Strait. Administratively, the island forms the main part of th ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Within its range it is found in

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

habitats, including

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

s, forest edge, swamps as well as submontane forest. It is declining due to habitat loss.

Description and taxonomy

It is described on

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

as " A small bird of wooded areas on Palawan and neighboring islands, with a full black hood, yellow underparts, a black wing with two white wing-bars and edges, and a black tail with a white tip and outer tail feathers. Back is bright yellow in males and olive in females. Somewhat similar to male Common Iora, but Palawan Tit also has a black rather than yellow throat. Voice includes an up-and-down whistled song, a high-pitched tinkling trill, and a nasal rasp." The male Palawan tit has a black head, throat and neck, a yellow back, belly and breast, and pied black and white wings and tail. The female exhibits limited

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

, having an olive back, but is otherwise similar to the male. This species is monotypic and has no subspecies.

Behaviour and ecology

It has been observed feeding on invertebrates, fruit and seeds but otherwise diet is largely unknown. Forages in the cannopy to the middle level of trees.Seen alone, in pairs, small groups and also joins mixed-species flocks. Birds with enlarged gonads collected in May but not much else is known about its breeding habits.

Habitat and conservation status

The species inhabits tropical moist lowland

primary forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

and secondary forest up to 800 meters above sea level. It is assessed as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

under the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

with populations believed to be decreasing due to habitat loss and deforestation. The whole of

was designated as a Biosphere Reserve; however, protection and enforcement of laws has been difficult and these threats still continue. It occurs in just one protected area in

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area in the Philippines. The park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the western coast of the island of Palawan, about north of the city of Puerto Princesa, and c ...

References

Sources

* BirdLife International 2004.
Parus amabilis

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Downloaded on 26 July 2007. * Gosler, A. & P. Clement (2007) "Family Paridae (Tits and Chickadees)" P.p. 662-709. ''in'' del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees''. Lynx Edicions. Palawan tit Birds of Palawan Palawan tit Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Paridae-stub