Family Tits and Chickadees (Paridae)
Least Concern
Southern Black Tit (Melaniparus niger)
Taxonomy
French: Mésange nègre German: Sambesi-Rußmeise Spanish: Carbonero negro
Taxonomy:
Parus niger
Vieillot
, 1818,Sunday River, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
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Subspecies and Distribution
M. n. xanthostomus
(Shelley, 1892) – SE Angola, C & S Zambia, SW Tanzania, NE Namibia, N & E Botswana and N South Africa (North West Province).
M. n. ravidus
(Clancey, 1964) – E Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and C Mozambique S to extreme N South Africa (N Limpopo Province).
M. n. niger
(Vieillot, 1818) – S Mozambique S to Swaziland and E South Africa (S to Eastern Cape).
Descriptive notes
15–16 cm; 17·2–26 g. Large black tit with white in wing. Male nominate race has entire body black (in fresh plumage, crown to uppertail-coverts glossed... read more
Voice
Fairly noisy (especially when predator in vicinity), and group-members frequently give nasal,... read more
Habitat
Wide variety of broadleaf mopane (Colophospermum) and miombo (Brachystegia)... read more
Food and feeding
Diet during breeding principally lepidopteran larvae (including those with toxic hairs); in non-breeding season also other small... read more
Breeding
Season Aug–Jan; one brood. Monogamous; estimated c. 66% of population have co-operative breeding system, whereby dominant pair... read more
Movements
Resident.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Common or locally common. Population in South Africa estimated at 10,000,000 individuals and in S Mozambique estimated c. 500,000 individuals;... read more
Has been considered conspecific with M. leucomelas, but they are not closely related#R and appear not to interbreed in area of range overlap in Malawi and Zambia. See also M. carpi. Races intergrade widely and ravidus is sometimes subsumed within xanthostomus#R. Three subspecies recognized.