Sittiparus

Sittiparus
Varied tit (Sittiparus varius)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Sittiparus
de Sélys-Longchamps, 1884
Type species
Parus varius
Temminck & Schlegel, 1845
Species

See text

Sittiparus is a genus of birds in the tit family Paridae. The species in the genus were formerly included in Parus but were moved to Sittiparus when Parus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed molecular phylogenetic analysis in 2013. The genus Sittiparus had originally been erected by the Belgium politician and naturalist Edmond de Sélys Longchamps in 1884 with the varied tit as the type species.

The genus contains the following species:

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Sittiparus variusVaried titeastern Asia in Japan, Korea, and locally in northeastern China (southern Liaoning) and extreme southeastern Russia (southern Kurile Islands)
Sittiparus owstoni (split from S. varius)Owston's titsouthern Izu Islands south of Japan
Sittiparus olivaceus (split from S. varius)Iriomote titsouth west of Japan and to the east of Taiwan
Sittiparus castaneoventris (split from S. varius)Chestnut-bellied titTaiwan
Sittiparus semilarvatusWhite-fronted titPhilippines

The subspecies Daito varied tit, S. v. orii, became extinct in the 1940s, the only tit to have done so.