Grey penduline tit explained

The grey penduline tit (Anthoscopus caroli), also known as the African penduline-tit, is a species of bird in the family Remizidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna. At 8to in length and a weight of 6.5g, it is one of the smallest species of bird found in Africa, along with its cousin the Cape penduline tit and the perhaps smaller mouse-colored penduline tit and the tit hylia.^[1]

Taxonomy

The grey penduline tit was formally described in 1871 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe from a specimen that had been collected in the Ovaquenyama or Oukwanyama district of Damaraland. This is now northern Namibia. Sharpe coined the binomial name Aegithalus caroli.^{[2] [3]} This tit is now placed in the genus Anthoscopus that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis.^{[4] [5]} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek anthos meaning "blossom" or "flower" with skopos meaning "searcher". The specific epithet caroli is from Late Latin Carolus for "Charles". This was chosen to honour the Swedish explorer Karl Johan Andersson.^[6]

Eleven subspecies are recognised:^[5]

• A. c. roccatii Salvadori, 1906 Uganda, northeast DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, west Kenya and northwest Tanzania
• A. c. pallescens Ulfstrand, 1960 – west Tanzania
• A. c. ansorgei Hartert, E, 1905 – Congo, west DR Congo to central Angola
• A. c. rhodesiae Sclater, WL, 1932 – southeast DR Congo, north Zambia and southwest Tanzania
• A. c. robertsi Haagner, 1909 – southeast Kenya to ne Zambia, Malawi and north Mozambique
• A. c. caroli (Sharpe, 1871) – south Angola and southwest Zambia to north Namibia and north Botswana
• A. c. winterbottomi White, CMN, 1946 – south DR Congo and northwest Zambia
• A. c. rankinei Irwin, 1963 – northeast Zimbabwe
• A. c. hellmayri Roberts, 1914 – east, south Zimbabwe, south Mozambique and northeast South Africa
• A. c. sylviella Reichenow, 1904 – south-central Kenya to central Tanzania
• A. c. sharpei Hartert, E, 1905 – southwest Kenya to north Tanzania

The race A. c. sylviella, found in parts of Kenya and Tanzania, is sometimes regarded as a separate species, the buff-bellied penduline-tit.

External links

• Grey Penduline Tit - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.

Notes and References

1. Book: Stevenson . Terry . Fanshawe . John . 2002 . Birds of East Africa . London . Christopher Helm . 440 . 978-0-7136-7347-0 .
2. Sharpe . R. Bowdler . Richard Bowdler Sharpe . 1871 . On seven new or lately described species of African birds . Ibis . 3rd series . 1 . 414–417 [415–416] .
3. Book: Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1986 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 12 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 67 .
4. Book: Cabanis, Jean . Jean Cabanis . 1850–1851 . Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt . 1 . German, Latin . Halberstadt . R. Frantz . 89 .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . January 2022 . Waxwings and allies, tits, penduline tits . IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 13 March 2022 .
6. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 49, 91.