Varied Tit (Sittiparus varius) [XC775911]
by Oscar Campbell from Kaikoen Castle Park, Komoro, Nagano, Japan (call)
Varied Tit (Sittiparus varius) [XC409612]
by Gerbenth from Meiji Jing\u016b, Shibuya-ku, T\u014dky\u014d, Japan (call)
Subspecies
Until recently present genus normally subsumed into a broad Parus, and many authors still prefer that treatment. Genus normally treated as feminine, but no evidence in original description or elsewhere justifies this, so genus is masculine by default. Has hybridized with Willow Tit (Poecile montanus). Geographical variation largely clinal, grading progressively smaller and darker from north to south. Birds from Yakushima (off southern Japan) described as subspecies yakushimensis, supposedly slightly darker on forecrown and side of head than those on neighbouring Tanegashima, but differences considered insufficient to warrant separation from sunsunpi.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
varius Temminck & Schlegel, 1848 - Southern Kuril Is, Japan, north-eastern China (south-eastern Liaoning, southern Jilin) and Korea.
owstoni (Ijima, 1893) - Southern Izu Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Izu Tit (Sittiparus owstoni).
amamii Kuroda, Nagamichi, 1922 - North-central Ryukyu Is (Amami-oshima south to Okinawa).
olivaceus (Nagamichi Kuroda, 1923) - Iriomote, in southern Ryukyus. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Iriomote Tit (Sittiparus olivaceus).
castaneoventris (Gould, 1863) - Taiwan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Chestnut-bellied Tit (Sittiparus castaneoventris).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet