Tits and Chickadees (Paridae)
Southern Black Tit (Parus niger) - HBW 12, p. 732
French: Mésange nègre
German: Mohrenmeise
Spanish: Carbonero Negro
Taxonomy: Parus niger Vieillot, 1818, Sunday River, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Forms a superspecies with P. guineensis, P. leucomelas, P. carpi and P. albiventris, possibly also including P. leuconotus. Has been considered conspecific with P. leucomelas, but the two appear not to interbreed in area of range overlap in Malawi and Zambia. Races intergrade widely and boundaries imperfectly known. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- xanthostomus Shelley, 1892 - SE Angola, C & S Zambia, SW Tanzania, NE Namibia, N & E Botswana and N South Africa (North West Province).
- ravidus Clancey, 1964 - E Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and C Mozambique S to extreme N South Africa (N Limpopo Province).
- niger Vieillot, 1818 - S Mozambique S to Swaziland and E South Africa (S to Eastern Cape).
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird on a branch, with a prey in its beak Locality Nylsvley Nature Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa (ssp niger)
Keith Blomerley 24 October 2004 7 years ago 28 sec 3.8 -
A pair preening and foraging Locality Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North Province, Zimbabwe (ssp rividus)
Greg Baker 14 September 1999 1 year ago 14 sec 3.7 -
Female foraging in tree. Locality Ithala Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa (ssp niger)
Doug and Denise Norris 15 September 2008 4 min ago ADDED TODAY! 14 sec 0
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Southern Black Tit (Parus niger) on a branch
Locality Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa (Monotypic species)
Roland Bischoff 22 July 2005 1 year ago 4.3 -
A bird on a dead trunk
Locality Katima Mulilo, Caprivi Region, Namibia
Aleix Comas 31 August 2007 3 years ago 2
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Call. East of Rundu. 3:04pm. Locality Rundu, Kavango Region, Namibia
(ssp xanthostomus)
Charles Hesse 19 November 2009 3 years ago 3
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