Black-browed bushtit

Black-browed bushtit
In Bhutan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Aegithalidae
Genus: Aegithalos
Species:
A. iouschistos
Binomial name
Aegithalos iouschistos
(Blyth, 1845)

The black-browed bushtit (Aegithalos iouschistos), also known as the black-browed tit or rufous-fronted bushtit, is a species of bird in the family Aegithalidae. It is found in mid-southern China and sporadically in Myanmar. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and temperate forests. The subspecies A. b. sharpei (Burmese tit) of western Burma and A. i. bonvaloti of southern China have sometimes been treated as separate species.

Taxonomy

The black-browed bushtit was formally described in 1845 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth based on a specimen collected in Bengal. He coined the binomial name Parus iouschistos.[2][3][4] The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek ιοεις/ioeis meaning "dark" with Late Latin schistus meaning "slate".[5] The black-browed bushtit is now one of eight species placed in the genus Aegithalos that was introduced in 1804 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann.[6]

Four subspecies are recognised:[6]

  • Aegithalos iouschistos iouschistos (Blyth, E, 1845), the rufous-fronted bushtit – Himalayas (Nepal to northern India and southeastern Tibet)
  • Aegithalos iouschistos bonvaloti (Oustalet, J-FÉ, 1892) – southern China (southeastern Tibet to Sichuan and Yunnan) and northeastern Myanmar
  • Aegithalos iouschistos obscuratus (Mayr, E, 1940) – mountains of western China (Sungpan region of northeastern Sichuan)
  • Aegithalos iouschistos sharpei (Rippon, G, 1904), the Burmese bushtit – montane forest of southwestern Myanmar (Mount Victoria)

The subspecies A. i. bonvaloti and A. i. sharpei have sometimes been considered as separate species,[7] but the genetic differences are relatively small.[8][9]

Description

It is a small, long-tailed bird, 11–12 centimetres (4.3–4.7 in) long. It has grey upperparts, rufous breast and flanks and a white belly. The head is buff with a broad black mask, white forehead and a white bib, speckled black in the centre. The subspecies A. b. sharpei has white rather than buff on the head, a dark breastband and a buff belly.

References

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  1. ↑ BirdLife International. (2024). "Aegithalos bonvaloti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024 e.T22736055A264196896. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22736055A264196896.en. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  2. ↑ Blyth, Edward (1844). "On the Leiotrichane birds of the Subhemalayas". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 13 (149) (published 1845): 933–944 [943].
  3. ↑ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 58.
  4. ↑ Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (PDF). Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 508. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.
  5. ↑ Blyth, Edward (1844). "On the Leiotrichane birds of the Subhemalayas". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 13 (149) (published 1845): 933–944 [943].
  6. 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  7. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "IOC World Bird List Version 14.2". International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  8. ↑ Päckert, M.; Martens, J.; Sun, Y.-H. (2010). "Phylogeny of long-tailed tits and allies inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear markers (Aves: Passeriformes, Aegithalidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 55 (3): 952–967. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.024.
  9. ↑ Johansson, U.S.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Fjeldså, J.; Irestedt, M. (2016). "The phylogenetic position of the world's smallest passerine, the Pygmy Bushtit Psaltria exilis". Ibis. 158 (3): 519–529. doi:10.1111/ibi.12377.
  • MacKinnon, John & Karen Phillipps (2000) A Field Guide to the Birds of China, Oxford University Press, Oxford
  • Robson, Craig (2002) A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia, New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd., London
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