Crested Tit

About the Crested Tit

The crested tit or European crested tit (Lophophanes cristatus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in coniferous forests throughout central and northern Europe and in deciduous woodland in France and the Iberian Peninsula. In Great Britain, it is mainly restricted to the ancient pinewoods of Inverness and Strathspey in Scotland, and rarely strays far from its haunts. A few vagrant crested tits have been seen in England. It is resident, and most individuals do not migrate.

The crested tit was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Parus cristatus. Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe, but this was restricted to Sweden by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1905. The crested tit is now placed together with grey-crested tit in the genus Lophophanes that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup. The current genus name, Lophophanes, is from the Ancient Greek lophos, "crest", and

phaino, "to show". The specific cristatus is Latin for "crested". This species was formerly placed in Parus... Wikipedia →