Family Tits and Chickadees (Paridae)
Least Concern
Dusky Tit (Melaniparus funereus)
Taxonomy
French: Mésange enfumée German: Einfarb-Rußmeise Spanish: Carbonero cenizo
Taxonomy:
Melanoparus [sic] funereus
J. P. Verreaux and J. B. É. Verreaux
, 1855,Gabon
.
Subspecies and Distribution
M. f. funereus
J. P. Verreaux & J. B. É. Verreaux, 1855 – Sierra Leone and Guinea E, discontinuously, to DRCongo, S Uganda, extreme S South Sudan and W Kenya.
M. f. gabela
(Traylor, 1961) – W Angola.
Descriptive notes
13–14·5 cm; 22–29 g. Medium-sized to large, all-dark tit with red eyes. Male nominate race has entire body, wing and tail blackish or sooty black, in fresh... read more
Voice
Very vocal, and has wide variety of calls, including slow and ringing “see-er, see-er, see-er”,... read more
Habitat
Dense primary and secondary evergreen forests, also gallery forest, old plantations and edges of... read more
Food and feeding
Food includes small invertebrates, mainly beetles (Coleoptera) and orthopterans, also larvae, principally of micro-lepidopterans; also... read more
Breeding
Poorly known. Season variable, possibly dependent on rains; adults in breeding condition in Nov in W Africa and Mar, Jun and Sept in... read more
Movements
Resident.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Locally common or uncommon in Guinea, Sudan and Uganda; scarce in Sierra Leone and Cameroon; rare in E Ivory Coast and S Ghana. Estimated density of... read more
Molecular data suggest it is sister to M. griseiventris and M. fasciiventer#R. Two subspecies recognized.