Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) [XC896673]
by Daan van der Hoeven from Idebo, Boxholm Municipality, \u00d6sterg\u00f6tland County, Sweden (call, song)
Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) [XC899731]
by id from Rutland, England, United Kingdom (alarm call, call)
Nest
A cup, composed of moss, low down, in a hole of a tree or stump, lined with hair and feathers.
Eggs (Guide)
7 - 10; white, usually with fine reddish-brown spots at the larger end.
Subspecies
Parus palustris (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) and Black-bibbed Tit (Poecile hypermelaenus) following Eck and Martens (2006) owing to apparent morphological, vocal, genetic and ecological differences between the two taxa.
Has hybridized with Willow Tit (Poecile montanus) and Great Tit (Parus major). Subspecies hypermelaenus sometimes considered a separate species; also, brevirostris (with other eastern Palearctic forms) might represent a further species, though genetically not apparently very different. Subspecies kabardensis has in the past been referred to by older name of brandtii, but type specimen of latter now lost and, since written description seems incompatible with present species, that name is regarded as indeterminate. Many subspecies described, but most geographical variation clinal, with e.g. decreasing size and increasing intensity of upperpart colour from east to west. Also, subspecies intergrade widely, and stagnatilis and kabardensis sometimes included within nominate, and jeholicus sometimes merged with hellmayri.
Other proposed subspecies are altaicus (from Altai and western Sayan Mts) and crassirostris (south-eastern Russia, north-eastern China and Korea), both synonymized with brevirostris. As extreme view, species has been considered possibly monotypic, with high degree of variation within populations. Further research and review required, particularly of relationship between hellmayri and hypermelaenus.
The following 11 subspecies are recognised:
dresseri (Stejneger, 1886) - Southern Britain (central and southern England, Wales) and western France.
palustris (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern and central Europe from southern Scandinavia south to northern Iberia, east to central Poland, western Balkans and Greece.
italicus (Tschusi & Hellmayr, 1900) - French Alps, Italy and Sicily.
stagnatilis (Brehm, CL, 1855) - Eastern Europe east to southern Urals and north-western Turkey.
kabardensis (Buturlin, 1929) - Caucasus and north-eastern Turkey.
brevirostris Taczanowski, 1872 - South-central and south-eastern Siberia, northern Mongolia, north-eastern China (western and northern Manchuria, Liaoning) and northern Korea.
jeholicus (Kleinschmidt, O & Weigold, 1922) - North-eastern China (northern Hebei).
hellmayri Bianchi, 1903 - Eastern China (Hebei south to Shandong and Jiangsu) and southern Korea.
hypermelaenus (Berezowski and Bianchi, 1891) - Central and eastern China to south-eastern Tibet and western Myanmar. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-bibbed Tit (Poecile hypermelaenus).
ernsti (Yamashina, 1933) - Sakhalin I.
hensoni (Stejneger, 1892) - Southern Kuril Is and northern Japan (Hokkaido).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet