Sombre Tit © flickr.com

Vagrant to Italy.

Subspecies hyrcanus has been treated as a separate species on basis of differences in voice and breeding behaviour and apparent absence of intergradation with neighbouring dubius and anatoliae; close to former subspecies in structure and plumage and to latter in plumage, but vocal characters and breeding biology similar to those of Willow Tit (Poecile montanus) (especially of "songarus group"); further study required. Geographical variation largely clinal, size decreasing from north to south, crown and bib darker from south to northern and east, and underparts increasingly paler from west to east. Described subspecies splendens (from eastern Romania and eastern Bulgaria) somewhat larger and paler than nominate, but considered better synonymized with it.

The following 6 subspecies are recognised:

• lugubris (Temminck, 1820)   -  Extreme north-western Croatia south to Albania, and central and southern Romania south to eastern Bulgaria and northern Greece, also Crete.
• lugens (Brehm, CL, 1855)   -  Central and southern Greece.
• anatoliae (Hartert, 1905)   -  Asia Minor, western Georgia, extreme southern Armenia and Levant (south to northern Israel).
• hyrcanus Zarudny and Loudon, 1905   -  Northern Iran (Elburz Mountains) and adjacent Azerbaijan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Caspian Tit (Poecile hyrcanus).
• dubius (Hellmayr, 1901)   -  Western Iran.
• kirmanensis (Koelz, 1950)   -  South-eastern Iran (Kerman).

Files:

More Information

BirdLife International For more information about the Sombre Tit see... BirdLife International Species Factsheet. Articles about the Sombre Tit If you would like to read any articles about the Sombre Tit... Show Articles (0) No Pictures of Sombre Tit If Birdpedia has no pictures of Sombre Tit or you would like to see more, then try the following...       From BING (10) No Videos of Sombre Tit If Birdpedia has no videos of Sombre Tit or you would like to see more, then try the following..       From BING (0) Where can I observe this species? Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded. Area   GEORGIA OCEAN   All    Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location. Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.   Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          N S or   GPS help Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          E W or   Find GPS using Google Maps Distance Bearing     N NE E SE S SW W NW Get Sample GPS readings On What Field Trips was this species observed? Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded. Area   GEORGIA OCEAN   All    From To     Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location. Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.   Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          N S or   GPS help Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          E W or Distance Bearing     N NE E SE S SW W NW Get Sample GPS readings Latest Sightings for Sombre Tit Select the Area to restrict the Sightings. Area   GEORGIA OCEAN   All