The
tits are a widespread family of birds, occurring over most of Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. They are active, noisy and social birds. The tits make a variety of calls and songs. The calls are generally the same between the sexes, but the male is much more vocal and the female rarely calls.
Quiet calls are made while feeding to facilitate cohesion with others in their social group. Other calls are used for signalling alarm—the most famous of which is the "Chic-a-dee-dee" of
North American. The number of "dee" syllables at the end of the call increases with the level of danger the predator poses.
The tits are generalist insectivores that consume a wide range of small insects and other invertebrates, particularly caterpillars. They also consume seeds and nuts, especially in
the winter. Many species will cache the food for later use. One characteristic method of foraging in the family is hanging, where they will inspect a branch or twig and leaves from all angles while hanging upside down to feed.
There are 3 tit genera that contain only 1 species and these are not your typical tit: the sultan tit (
Melanochlora sultanea) is about 20 cm long; the ground tit (
Pseudopodoces humilis) also 20 cm long; and the yellow-browed tit (
Sylviparus modestus) is about 9 cm long. Without these three exceptions, the tits range from 10 to 16 cm long and 7 to 30 grams of weight.
The tits of North America are all called titmouse (genus
Baeolophus) and chickadees (genus
Poecile).
The European, Asian, and African members of
Paridae are all called tits.
There are no members of the family in South America or Australia.

Black-capped Chickadee Image by Christian Fritschi
NORTH AMERICAN TITS
Genus Baeolophus
The titmouse are found in North America, They have grey upperparts and white or grey underparts. All have a significant crest. They eat insects, seeds, nuts, and berries. They nest in cavities which are usually in trees. They do not excavate their own cavities and often used prior woodpecker cavities. They line their cavities with soft material such as moss. The titmouse species are 12 to 16 cm long.
Titmouse,_Black-crested also
Mexican Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Image by: 1)
Alan D Wilson 2)
Dan Pancamo - Texas
3, 4) Andy_Morffew



Titmouse,_ Bridled Baeolophus wollweberi
Image by:
1, 2) Karla Kishinami - Arizona 3)
Alan D Wilson 4)
Dominic_Sherony



Titmouse,_ Juniper Baeolophus ridgwayi
Image by: 1)
Tony Randell 2)
Seabamirum - Arizona 3)
J N Stuart - Nevada 4)
Ron_Knight - Colorado



Titmouse,_Oak Baeolophus inornatus
Image by: 1)
Alan Vernon - California 2)
Gary Kramer, USFWS 3)
Doug Greenberg - California 4)
Velo Steve
1) Fledgling



Titmouse,_ Tufted Baeolophus bicolor
Image by:
1, 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - North Carolina



Genus Poecile
The genus Poecile has some species in North America and other in Europe and Asia. The North American species are called chickadees because of the call that sounds a lot like that name. Chickadees are able to let their body temperature drop considerably at night so as to conserve energy. The European and Asian species are all called tits.
Chickadee,_Black-capped Poecile atricapillus
Image by: 1)
Brendan Lally - British Columbia 2)
Mdf - Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada 3)
Alan D Wilson - British Columbia 4)
Dick Daniels - New Hampshire 7)
Dick - Olympia, Washington



Chickadee,_Boreal Poecile hudsonicus
Image by:
1, 2) David Mitchell 3)
pbonenfant 4)
Daniel_Arndt



Chickadee,_Carolina Poecile carolinensis
Image by: 1)
Norm Townsend - Oklahoma
2, 3, 4
Dick - North Carolina



Chickadee,_Chestnut-backed Poecile rufescens
Image by: 1) Elaine R Wilson - British Columbia 2)
Eugene Beckes 3)
Maggie Smith - California 4)
Eugene_Beckes



Chickadee,_Grey-headed Poecile cinctus
Image by: 1)
Estormiz - Kittilä, Finland
2 - Ron Knight - Finland
3) Sergey Yeliseev - Altai, Russia 4)
Crotach - Finland



Chickadee,_Mexican Poecile sclateri
Image by:
1, 2)
HarmonyonPlanetEarth - Arizona 3)
Marcel Holyoak - southeast Arizona 3


Chickadee,_Mountain Poecile gambeli
Image by: 1)
Jessi Bryan - Washington
2, 3) Jerry Oldenettel - New Mexico 4)
Alan D Wilson - Oregon



EURASIAN TITS
Tit,_Black-bibbed Poecile hypermelaenus
Image by:
1)
Gustav_Mutzel 2, 3)
LonelyShrimp


Tit,_Marsh Poecile palustris
Image by: 1)
Steffen Hannert 2)
Luc Viatour 3)
Slawomir Staszczuk 4)
Cristiano Crolle - Cesano Maderno, Italy



Tit,_Pere_David's Poecile davidi
Image by: 1)
Gustav_Mutzel
Tit, Siberian Poecile cinctus
Image by: 1)
Estormiz - Kittilä, Finland
2 - Ron Knight - Finland
3) Sergey Yeliseev - Altai, Russia 4)
Crotach - Finland



Tit,_Sichuan Poecile weigoldicus
Image by:
1, 2)
Dave Curtis

Tit,_Sombre Poecile lugubris
Image by: 1)
Steve Raill - Bulgalia 2)
Steve_Riall - Bulgaria
3) Nikola_Veljkovic - southwest Serbia


Tit,_White-browed Poecile superciliosus
Image by: 1)
Dave_Curtis
Tit,_Willow Poecile montanus
Image by: 1)
Baresi Franco 2)
Cristiano Crolle - Switzerland 3)
Estormiz - Finland 4)
Sergey Yeliseev - Kazakhstan (
P. m. songarus)



Genus Cephalopyrus - 1 species
Tit,_Fire-capped Cephalopyrus flammiceps
Image by:
1)
Francesco_Veronesi - Bhutan 2)
Ron Knight 3)
Savithri_Singh


Genus Cyanistes
As the name implies, species belonging to the genus
Cyanistes are known for their blue plumage. Except for the African blue tit, these are Eurasian birds. They are 11 to 13 cm long. The diet consists of Insects, their larvae and eggs, seeds. Caterpillars are important during the breeding season. The females usually makes her nest in a tree cavity. The male reciprocates by feeding her while she incubates the egss.
Tit,_African Blue Cyanistes teneriffae
Image by:
1, 2, 3,
4) Juan Emilio - Canary Islands



Tit,_Azure
Cyanistes cyanus
Image by:
1, 2) Sergey Pisarevskiy - South Siberia, Russia 3)
Ron_Knight 4)
Jargal_Lamjav



Tit,_Eurasian Blue Cyanistes caeruleus
Image by: 1)
Jan_Svetlik 2)
Tapio Kaisla 3)
Andreas Trepte 4)
Luc Viatour



Tit,_Yellow-breasted Cyanistes flavipectus
Image by:
1, 2) Francesco Veronesi - Uzbekistan

Genus Lophophanes
These two species of tits with crests look quite similar, but are widely sperated by thousands of kilometers.
Tit,_Crested Lophophanes cristatus
Image by: 1)
Tapio Kaisla 2) Luc
Viatour (CC BY-SA 3.0) 3)
Cristiano Crolle - Val Roseg, Switzerland 4)
Sgbeer



Tit,_grey-crested Lophophanes dichrous
Image by: 1)
soumyajit_nandy 2)
Garima_Bhatia - Bhutan 3)
Dave_Curtis 4)
PJeganathan



Genus Machlolophus
Except for the white-naped tit, these
Asian species all have a prominent mainly black crest. Like other tits, they use a tree cavity for their nest sit and line it with soft material such as moss and fur.
Tit,_Himalayan_Black-lored Machlolophus xanthogenys
Image by: 1)
Shrikant_Rao - India
2, 4) Koshy_Koshy - India 3)
Avyakta_Shashi - India



Tit,_Indian_Black-lored Machlolophus aplonotus
Image by: 1)
Sergey Yeliseev 2)
Tarique San Uajith 4) Prajwalkm


Tit,_White-naped Machlolophus nuchalis
Image by:
1) Tarique Sani 2)
Dhaval_Vargiya 3)
Parthkansara305


Tit,_Yellow Machlolophus holsti
Image by:
1, 3) Hiyashi Halso 2)
Robert tdc


Tit,_Yellow-cheeked Machlolophus spilonotus
Image by: 1)
Ron Knight 2)
Ron Hodgkinson 3)
Francesco Veronesi


Genus Melanochlora - 1 species
Tit,_Sultan Melanochlora sultanea
Image by:
1, 2) Hiyashi Halso known as 3)
Jerry Oldenettel - Thailand


Genus Parus
The genus Parus formerly contained almost all the species of the tit family, but has been downsized to just four species. All of the species are found in Asia, but the great tit is also found extensively in Europe.
Tit,_Cinereous Parus cinereus
Image by: 1)
Raju Kasambe 2)
TR_Shankar_Raman - India
3, 4)
Imran_Shah - Pakistan



Tit,_Great Parus major
Image by: 1)
Jacques Chibret 2)
Slawomir
Staszczuk 3)
Cristiano Crolle - Cesano Maderno
4)
Andy_Morffew



Tit,_Green-backed Parus monticolus
Image by:
1, 2) Hiyashi Halso known as 3)
Koshy_Koshy - India


Tit,_Japanese Parus minor
Image by: 1,
3) Alpsdake - Japan 2)
Lip Kee Yap - Minoo, Osalso, Japan 4)
Greg_Peterson



Genus Periparus
The
Periparus tits are all found in Asia.
Tit,_Coal Periparus ater
Image by: 1)
Aviceda - Princetown, Devon, England
2)
Stawomir Staszczuk 3)
Cristiano Crolle - Switzerland 4)
Shrikant_Rao
4)
P. a. melanolophus, the black-crested tit



Tit,_Elegant Periparus elegans
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi
Tit,_Palawan Periparus amabilis
Image by: 1)
Markaharper
Tit,_Rufous-naped Periparus rufonuchalis
Image by:
1, 2, 3) Imran_Shah - Pakistan


Tit,_Rufous-vented Periparus rubidiventris
Image by: 1)
John Gould 2)
Ron_Knight- Sichuan China

Tit,_Yellow-bellied Periparus venustulus also
Pardaliparus venustulus
Image by: 1)
Bernd_Kirschner 2)
Ron_Knight - Sichuan 3)
Dave Curits


Genus Pseudopodoces - 1 species
Tit,_Ground Pseudopodoces humilis
Image by:
1, 2) Dave_Curtis Dibyendu Ash - India


Genus Sittiparus
Tit,_Chestnut-bellied Sittiparus castaneoventris
Image by: 1)
John_and_Fish 2)
Robert_tdc 3)
Lin_Sun-Fong


Tit,_Varied Sittiparus varius also
Cyanistes varius
Image by: 1)
Alpsdake 2)
M Nishimura 3)
LonelyShrimp


Tit,_White-fronted Sittiparus semilarvatus
Image by: 1)
John Gerrard Kuelemans
Genus Sylviparus - 1 species
Tit,_Yellow-browed Sylviparus modestus
Image by: 1)
Francesco Veronesi - Bhutan 2)
Dave_Curtis - Myanmar 3)
Vijay_Ismavel - West Bengal


AFRICAN TITS
See also the
African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae)
Genus Melaniparus
These tits are from Africa and most have black and white plumage. They range from 12 to 18 cm long. The diet is similar to the other tit family members: insects, larvae, spiders plus fruits and seeds for some of the genus.
Tit,_Ashy Melaniparus cinerascens
Image by:
1, 2, 3) Derek_Keats - Botswana


Tit,_Carp's Melaniparus carpi
Image by:
1, 2) Jerry Oldenettel - Namibia

Tit,_Dusky Melaniparus funereus
Image by: 1)
John Gerrard Keulemans 2)
Dick Daniels - specimen in
Nairobi National Museum, Kenya 3)
Nik_Borrow - Uganda


Tit,_Grey Melaniparus afer
Image by:
1, 2) Alan Manson - South Africa 3)
Francesco Veronesi


Tit,_Miombo Melaniparus griseiventris
Image by: 1)
Maans_Booysen - Angola
Tit,_Red-throated Melaniparus fringillinus
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya
2, 3)
Nik_Borrow - Tanzania


Tit,_Rufous-bellied Melaniparus rufiventris
Image by: 1)
Nigel_Voaden - DR Congo 2)
Peter_Steward - Malawi 3)
Maans_Booysen - Angola


Tit,_Somali Melaniparus thruppi
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya 2)
Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia

Tit,_Southern Black- Melaniparus niger
Image by: 1)
Derek_Keats - South Africa 2)
Haller1962 3)
Franceso Veronesi 4)
Ron Knight 4)
Lip Kee



Tit,_Stripe-breasted Melaniparus fasciiventer
Image by:
1, 2) Nik_Borrow - Uganda

Tit,_White-backed_Black- Melaniparus leuconotus
Image by:
1, 2) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia

Tit,_White-bellied Melaniparus albiventris
Image by: 1)
Peter Steward - Kenya 2) Dominic_Sherony

Tit,_White-shouldered Black- Melaniparus guineensis
Image by: 1)
Allan_Hopkins - Gambia 2)
Nik_Borrow - Ghana

Tit,_White-winged_Black- Melaniparus leucomelas
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow 2)
Charles_Davies - Angola 3)
Peter_Wilton

