Long-tailed Tits (Aegithalidae)

Rufous-fronted Tit (Aegithalos iouschistos) - HBW 13, p. 97

French: Mésange de Blyth German: Rostwangen-Schwanzmeise Spanish: Mito Frentirrufo
Other common names: Rufous-fronted Bushtit, Blyth’s (Long-tailed)/Himalayan/Black-headed Tit

Taxonomy: Parus iouschistos Blyth, 1845, Nepal.
Forms a superspecies with A. niveogularis, A. bonvaloti and A. sharpei; all four sometimes treated as conspecific, but they seem to be morphologically fairly distinct from one another and, while ranges overlap only minimally or not at all (e.g. range of present species does not quite meet that of A. niveogularis in C Nepal, and marginally sympatric with A. bonvaloti in SW China), there is no evidence of intergradation or hybridization between any of them. Monotypic.

Distribution: C & E Nepal E in narrow band along S flank of Himalayas to at least Bhutan, extending N of main range into SW China (SE Xizang E to the Yi’ong Zangbo and Po Tsangpo).