Fire-capped Tit

About the Fire-capped Tit

The fire-capped tit (Cephalopyrus flammiceps) is a small, 10 cm (3.9 in) long, weighing about 7 g (0.25 oz) bird species assigned to the family Paridae, that breeds in the temperate forest bordering the Himalayas to the south, in the Hengduan Shan and Nujiang Shan on the Myanmar-China border, the Micah Shan and Daba Shan on the Northern Sichuan border. It winters down hill and further south. Further to the east, birds tend to be smaller and the plumage becomes gradually darker.

The species was once considered to be a kinglet but is today treated as a tit. It is placed in a monotypic genus, Cephalopyrus. Its previous assignment to the family Remizidae was not entirely satisfactory, as this species nests in hollows in trees, as do the true tits and chickadees (Paridae), so it was placed there. It also lays blue eggs, like the verdin Auriparus flaviceps, and not white. Its small cone-shaped bill, and its song however are typical for a penduline tit.

Outside the breeding season (September–January), the crown is dark olive-brown, with a yellowish olive-green border. The upper parts are yellowish to olive-green. The rump yellowish to olive-golden... Wikipedia →