The Songar tit (''Poecile montanus songarus'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

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. It is the southern counterpart of the

willow tit The willow tit (''Poecile montanus'') is a passerine bird in the tit (bird), tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and across the Palearctic. The plumage is grey-brown and o ...

(''P. montanus''), and is usually included in it as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. It breeds in the deciduous mountain forests of southeast

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

and northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The 13 cm long Songar tit has a dark brown cap, blackish bib, rich brown upperparts, white cheeks and cinnamon buff underparts. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are somewhat duller. The most common call is a nasal ''zee, zee, zee'', but the notes of the bird evidently vary considerably The Songar tit usually excavates its own nesting hole, often in a rotten stump or in a tree, more or less decayed. Most nests examined are cups of

felted A felted material is a hairy or Wikt:filamentous, filamentous (hairy-like) fibre that is densely packed or tangled, forming felt or felt-like structures. Advantages of felted tissue The dermis is described in Gray's Anatomy as "felted connect ...

material, such as fur, hair and wood chips, but

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

s are sometimes used. The number of eggs is from five to six, white with small reddish spots or blotches. They feed on

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s and seeds, much like other tits.

References

*Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A., & Christie D. (eds). (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. *Harrap, S., & Quinn, D. (1996). ''Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers''. Christopher Helm. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2084586 Songar tit Birds of Central Asia Birds of Western China Songar tit