Ground tit

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Hume's ground tit
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Ground tit

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus: Pseudopodoces
Zarudny & Loudon
, 1902
Species:
P. humilis
Binomial name
Pseudopodoces humilis
(Hume, 1871)
Distribution
Synonyms

Podoces humilis Hume, 1871
Parus humilis

The ground tit, Tibetan ground-tit or Hume's ground-tit (Pseudopodoces humilis) is a bird of the Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas. The peculiar appearance confused ornithologists in the past who called it as Hume's groundpecker and still later as Hume's ground jay or Tibetan ground jay assuming that it belonged to the family Corvidae that includes the crows and jays. Although morphologically confusing, the species has since been identified using molecular sequence comparisons as being a member of the tit family (Paridae) and is the only species in the genus Pseudopodoces.[2] It is found in the Tibetan Plateau of China, India, Nepal & Bhutan.

Description

Pseudopodoces is somewhat similar in appearance to the unrelated

genera Parus sensu stricto and Periparus. The bill, legs and feet are black. Males and females look alike.[3][4]

The voice is described as a plaintive whistling, cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep and it also has a two syllable finch-like call.[5]

Ground tit at Tso Kar, Ladakh.

Systematics

 

Remizidae

 

Cephalopyrus flammiceps

 

Sylviparus modestus

 

Melanochlora sultanea

 
 
 

Cyanistes

 
 
 

Pseudopodoces

 

Parus monticolus

Parus major

Machlolophus

Melaniparus

Phylogeny of the Paridae with the position of Pseudopodoces highlighted[6]

The ground tit was traditionally considered a relative of the

infraorder today known as Passerida.[2]

From 2003 onwards,

Paridae). In fact, genetic evidence suggests that it is a closer relative of the great tit and its relatives in the genus Parus sensu stricto than the chickadees and their relatives of the genus Poecile.[11]

Ecology

It occurs across the

Podoces ground jays. Observers have compared the sight of a Tibetan ground-tit moving along to a small greyish-brown rubber ball.[3]

It obtains food on the ground, eating a wide range of arthropod prey, often obtained by probing yak (Bos grunniens) dung and turning it over to flush the prey out. It also peers into rock crevices and into holes in the ground in its search for food. Individuals have been observed to poke mud in and near puddles like hoopoes (Upupa epops); in general the bill is extensively used for digging, much like the similarly-shaped one of the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax). If chased by a bird of prey or other predator, it will bolt straight down the nearest hole like a rodent until the danger has passed. They are frequently found near colonies of pikas (Ochotona). Though the birds and the mammals probably benefit from each other's vigilance, their association is probably less due to a strong mutualism but rather because both prefer habitat with similar ground cover and soil.[3]

The nest is rather unusual for that of a passerine, being built inside a burrow which the birds excavate themselves. It is usually dug horizontally into a bank or wall of earth, and can reach a depth of 1.8 meters. The nest is placed at the end of this in a small chamber and consists usually just of bit of wool placed onto a grass base. The 4–6 eggs are pure white and the young stay with their parents for some time after fledging; half-grown young are still fed by their parents on occasion as late as August.[12] Cooperative breeding occurs in this species, with monogamous pairs frequently having at least one male helper who are yearlings which remain on the natal territory. This behaviour is thought to occur as a result of there being a shortage of males in the population.[13]

The ground tit is not a

migratory bird but may descend to lower altitudes in valleys during the winter. In addition to digging nesting burrows, ground-tits frequently dig roosting burrows to use during the coldest months.[14]

Footnotes

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22705903A118691713.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b James et al. (2003), del Hoyo et al. (2007)
  3. ^ a b c Londei (1998), del Hoyo et al. (2007)
  4. ^ Baker, ECS (1922). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis, London. p. 71.
  5. ^ del Hoyo et al. (2007)
  6. PMID 23831453
    .
  7. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1871.tb05852.x
    .
  8. ^ Borecky, S.R. (1978). "Evidence for the removal of Pseudopodoces humilis from the Corvidae". Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 98: 36–37.
  9. ^ S. Hope (1989). Phylogeny of the avian family Corvidae (PhD Dissertation). City University of New York.
  10. S2CID 66988
    .
  11. ^ James et al. (2003), Gill et al. (2005), Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006), BLI (2008)
  12. ^ Londei (1998), del Hoyo et al. (2007), Ke & Lu (2009)
  13. doi:10.1111/ibi.12485
    .
  14. ^ del Hoyo et al. (2007), Ke & Lu (2009)

References

External links

  • Cyberbirding: Images of Hume's ground tits and their habitat
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