Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Paridae
Genus
Parus
Surprise Me
Previous Ground Tit
Next Great Tit
- Green-backed Tit
© Holger Teichmann
- Green-backed Tit
- Green-backed Tit
+3
- Green-backed Tit
- Green-backed Tit
- Green-backed Tit
- Green-backed Tit
Watch
- Green-backed Tit
Listen

Green-backed Tit Parus monticolus Scientific name definitions

Andrew Gosler and Peter Clement
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2007

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

12·5–13 cm; 12–16·8 g. Large, black-capped tit with broad black ventral line, greenish upperparts and double wingbar. Male nominate race has forehead to crown (to below eye) and nape glossy bluish, small whitish patch on centre of lower nape; upper edge of mantle yellowish, rest of mantle, and scapulars and upper back bright olive-green, rump light grey, uppertail-coverts blackish, tips of longest bluish-black; tail black, fringed dull violet-blue, all feathers tipped white, outermost rectrix with outer web entirely white and broad white wedge at tip of inner web; lesser upperwing-coverts fringed pale grey, median coverts blackish, finely fringed and tipped white, greaters blackish, finely fringed bluish-grey and broadly tipped white, alula and primary coverts black, finely fringed white; flight-feathers sooty black, tertials fringed and broadly tipped white, secondaries and inner primaries finely fringed violet-blue; cheek and ear-coverts to nape side white; chin, throat and side of neck to centre of upper breast black, slightly glossed blue on throat and breast; fairly broad but irregular black line from lower bib to vent; rest of underparts bright lemon-yellow, flanks washed olive, undertail-coverts blackish, broadly tipped white; axillaries and underwing-coverts whitish; in worn plumage, crown and nape duller, less glossy, wing and tail feathers browner, and pale tips of greater coverts and fringes of tertials may be abraded or absent; iris light brown to dark brown; bill black, paler cutting edges of lower mandible; legs slate-grey to blue-grey. Differs from P. major mainly in having two wingbars (not one), somewhat brighter green upperparts, bluish edges of flight-feathers. Female is very like male, but has wing and tail browner, fringes of greater coverts, secondaries and primaries duller or greyer, bib duller, more sooty black, and ventral line narrower and less intensely black. Juvenile is as female, but crown to nape browner and lacking gloss, smaller and pale yellowish nuchal spot, upperparts slightly duller, tips of wing-coverts and edges of tertials yellowish, cheeks and ear-coverts pale yellow (whiter with wear), bib reduced to small patch to centre of breast and narrow dark brown ventral line to centre of belly, rest of underparts duller yellow, washed greyish-olive on flanks; juvenile female slightly paler or browner, with slightly deeper yellow wash on tips of greater coverts and tertial edges, and duller or greyer edges of flight-feathers. Racial variation mostly slight: yunnanensis is as nominate, but upperparts slightly deeper green, wingbars slightly broader, and underparts brighter yellow with narrower ventral stripe; insperatus resembles previous, but tertials fringed bluish, broad white spots at tips of median and greater coverts, and smaller white tips on secondaries; legendrei is similar to nominate, but upperparts duller, greyish olive-green, with grey rump, white tips of median coverts narrow and tips of greaters slightly broader (less than on previous race), tertials fringed bluish (as previous), breast and belly mostly black (or a much wider ventral line), with yellow paler and restricted to breast side and flanks.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Sister to P. major (1). Genetic phylogroups identified within this species incongruent with traditionally recognized subspecies (2). Race legendrei relatively distinctive, with its (usually) very broad black ventral line (2), paler yellow flanks (1) and dingier greenish back (1). Nominate race and yunnanensis intergrade in W Nepal. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Parus monticolus monticolus Scientific name definitions

Parus monticolus monticolus
P. m. monticolus

Distribution

W and C Himalayas from N Pakistan E to W Nepal and S Tibet.

SUBSPECIES

Parus monticolus yunnanensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Himalayas E to NE India (including E Meghalaya, S Assam S to Manipur), C and S China (S Gansu and S Shaanxi S to S Yunnan and Guizhou), W, N and NE Myanmar, extreme NW Vietnam and C Laos.
SUBSPECIES

Parus monticolus legendrei Scientific name definitions

Parus monticolus legendrei
P. m. legendrei

Distribution

Langbian, in SC Vietnam.
SUBSPECIES

Parus monticolus insperatus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Taiwan.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Mainly temperate and subtropical forests, including deciduous forest, principally oak (Quercus) and alder (Alnus), mixed and coniferous stands, to moist subtropical evergreen forest and higher-altitude birch (Betula) and juniper (Juniperus); also in undergrowth of bamboo and scrub. In non-breeding season also in forest edge and more open areas of orchards, walnut (Juglans) groves, edges of cultivation and gardens. Breeds at 1600–2800 m in W Himalayas and 1200–3660 m in E Himalayas, and 915–2650 m in NE Myanmar; 1980–3650 m in Tibet, and 1100–3960 m in SC China (Sichuan and Yunnan), 220–500 m in C Laos and 915–1585 m in S Vietnam; 600–2800 m in Taiwan. In non-breeding season also at lower levels, down to 580 m in N Pakistan, to 800 m in foothills in Bhutan and to 315 m in N Myanmar; in SC China (Sichuan) winters at 100–3050 m.

Movement

Largely resident or short-distance altitudinal migrant. Some spend winter months at very high levels (2680 m in Sikkim, 3900 m in Nepal), but others descend to lower levels of foothills and adjacent plains in Oct–Mar non-breeding season. In N Pakistan, moves lower into Salt Range and Murree Hills and S to Peshawar and Islamabad; in N India occurs in N Punjab and around Dehra Dun (Uttar Pradesh), and farther E makes post-breeding descent into foothills of Bhutan and in N Myanmar; also in China. Vagrant to Ladakh and Bangladesh.

Diet and Foraging

Diet not well known, but includes small invertebrates and larvae, flower buds, some fruit, including berries, and seeds. Usually in pairs, but in post-breeding season more often in small family groups of up to 20 individuals; also frequently in mixed-species foraging flocks with small babblers (Timaliidae), warblers (Sylviidae) and flycatchers (Muscicapidae), occasionally with P. major in W & S China. Generally tame and confiding, in certain areas often enters houses in villages. Forages actively and acrobatically at all levels in forest trees (though more often in canopy in deciduous trees) and in undergrowth; also searches trunk and branches of trees, and in non-breeding season frequently on the ground. Appears able to withstand deep snowfall and to find food during periods of severe winter weather.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

All calls, including range of variation, similar to those of P. major, but generally louder or more shrill, and include rapid “fit-schew” and thin “si-si-si-si-si-li”; flight and contact calls include 3-note “te-te-whee”; also has a more musical “pling pling pling”, often terminating with “tee-eurr”; alarm a 3-note harsh “shick-shick-shick”; in Taiwan (race insperatus) a distinctive, rapid and mechanical “heeeb t-t-tk, heeeb t-t-tk, heeeb t-t-tk”, frequently repeated. Song, from early Feb to late May in Nepal and from mid-Apr in Pakistan, a repeated series of disyllabic notes, one note shorter than the other, a rising “seeta-seeta-seeta” recalling a similar phrase given by Periparus ater, also “teeye-teeye-teeye” or “tu-weeh, tu-weeh, whit-ee, whit-ee…”; variations include “whichy-whichy, ti-ti-tee-it, tsing-tsing pi-du, psit-psit-tutu”, also a song of repeated notes on same pitch, “piu-piu-piu…” or “pli-pli-pli-pli-pli”.

Breeding

Season Feb–Jul, but in Taiwan possibly throughout year (most in Mar–Jun); one brood. Nest, built solely by female, a soft pad of grass, plant fibres, moss, animal hair, wool and feathers, placed usually below 3 m, exceptionally to c. 7 m from ground, in hole or cavity in tree trunk, old stump, or fence post, or in hole in rocks or earth bank, sometimes in nestbox or hole in wall, or under eaves of house. Clutch 4–8 eggs; incubation by female, fed on nest by male; chicks fed by both parents. No information on duration of incubation and nestling periods.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Common or fairly common throughout range; locally abundant.
Distribution of the Green-backed Tit - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Green-backed Tit

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Gosler, A. and P. Clement (2020). Green-backed Tit (Parus monticolus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grbtit1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos