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Eurasian blue tit
The Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognised by its blue and yellow plumage and small size.
Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are widespread and a common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and parts of western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands, often with a high proportion of oak. They usually nest in tree holes, although they easily adapt to nest boxes where necessary. Their main rival for nests and in the search for food is the larger and sometimes more common great tit (Parus major).
The Eurasian blue tit prefers insects and spiders for its diet. Outside the breeding season, they also eat seeds and other vegetable-based foods. The birds are noted for their acrobatic skills, as they can hold on to the outermost branches of trees and shrubs and hang upside down when looking for food.
The Eurasian blue tit was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Parus caeruleus. Parus is the classical Latin for a tit and caeruleus is the Latin for dark blue or caerulean. The type locality is Sweden. Two centuries earlier, before the introduction of the binomial nomenclature, the same Latin name had been used by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner when he described and illustrated the blue tit in his Historiae animalium of 1555.
In 2005, analysis of the mtDNA cytochrome b sequences of the Paridae indicated that Cyanistes was an early offshoot from the lineage of other tits, and more accurately regarded as a genus rather than a subgenus of Parus. The current genus name, Cyanistes, is from the Ancient Greek kuanos, "dark blue". The African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae) was formerly considered to be conspecific. The genus Cyanistes now contains three species, the Eurasian blue tit, the African blue tit, and the azure tit.
Nine subspecies are recognised. They differ mainly in the colour of the plumage but the variation is usually slight and clinal.
Pleske's tit (Cyanistes × pleskei) is a common interspecific hybrid between this species and the azure tit (Cyanistes cyanus), in western Russia. Such birds can look like azure tits, but with less white on the tail and a bit of yellow on the chest or like blue tit but with whitish underparts.
The Eurasian blue tit is usually 10.5–12 cm (4.1–4.7 in) long with a wingspan of 17.5–20 cm (6.9–7.9 in) for both sexes, and weighs about 11 g (0.39 oz). A typical blue tit has an intensively blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye, and encircling the white cheeks to the chin, giving the bird a very distinctive appearance. The forehead and a bar on the wing are white. The nape, wings and tail are blue, and the back is yellowish green. The underparts are mostly sulphur-yellow with a dark line down the abdomen; the yellowness is indicative of the number of yellowy-green caterpillars eaten, due to high levels of carotene pigments in the diet. The bill is black, the legs bluish grey, and the irises dark brown. The sexes are similar and often indistinguishable to human eyes, but under ultraviolet light, males have a brighter blue crown. Juvenile birds are yellower and have fewer contrasting colours. They become similar to mature ones in September, although some parts of the wings are kept until May/June next year.
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Eurasian blue tit
The Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognised by its blue and yellow plumage and small size.
Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are widespread and a common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and parts of western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands, often with a high proportion of oak. They usually nest in tree holes, although they easily adapt to nest boxes where necessary. Their main rival for nests and in the search for food is the larger and sometimes more common great tit (Parus major).
The Eurasian blue tit prefers insects and spiders for its diet. Outside the breeding season, they also eat seeds and other vegetable-based foods. The birds are noted for their acrobatic skills, as they can hold on to the outermost branches of trees and shrubs and hang upside down when looking for food.
The Eurasian blue tit was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Parus caeruleus. Parus is the classical Latin for a tit and caeruleus is the Latin for dark blue or caerulean. The type locality is Sweden. Two centuries earlier, before the introduction of the binomial nomenclature, the same Latin name had been used by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner when he described and illustrated the blue tit in his Historiae animalium of 1555.
In 2005, analysis of the mtDNA cytochrome b sequences of the Paridae indicated that Cyanistes was an early offshoot from the lineage of other tits, and more accurately regarded as a genus rather than a subgenus of Parus. The current genus name, Cyanistes, is from the Ancient Greek kuanos, "dark blue". The African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae) was formerly considered to be conspecific. The genus Cyanistes now contains three species, the Eurasian blue tit, the African blue tit, and the azure tit.
Nine subspecies are recognised. They differ mainly in the colour of the plumage but the variation is usually slight and clinal.
Pleske's tit (Cyanistes × pleskei) is a common interspecific hybrid between this species and the azure tit (Cyanistes cyanus), in western Russia. Such birds can look like azure tits, but with less white on the tail and a bit of yellow on the chest or like blue tit but with whitish underparts.
The Eurasian blue tit is usually 10.5–12 cm (4.1–4.7 in) long with a wingspan of 17.5–20 cm (6.9–7.9 in) for both sexes, and weighs about 11 g (0.39 oz). A typical blue tit has an intensively blue crown and dark blue line passing through the eye, and encircling the white cheeks to the chin, giving the bird a very distinctive appearance. The forehead and a bar on the wing are white. The nape, wings and tail are blue, and the back is yellowish green. The underparts are mostly sulphur-yellow with a dark line down the abdomen; the yellowness is indicative of the number of yellowy-green caterpillars eaten, due to high levels of carotene pigments in the diet. The bill is black, the legs bluish grey, and the irises dark brown. The sexes are similar and often indistinguishable to human eyes, but under ultraviolet light, males have a brighter blue crown. Juvenile birds are yellower and have fewer contrasting colours. They become similar to mature ones in September, although some parts of the wings are kept until May/June next year.