Poecile

Poecile is a genus of birds in the tit family Paridae. It contains 15 species, which are scattered across North America, Europe and Asia; the North American species are the chickadees. In the past, most authorities retained Poecile as a subgenus within the genus Parus, but treatment as a distinct genus, initiated by the American Ornithologists Union, is now widely accepted. This is supported by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis.

The genus Poecile was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829. The type species was subsequently designated as the marsh tit (Poecile palustris) by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1842. The name Poecile is from Ancient Greek poikilos "colourful". A related word poikilidos denoted an unidentified small bird. It has traditionally been treated as feminine (giving name endings such as cincta); however, this was not specified by the original genus author Johann Jakob Kaup, and under the ICZN the genus name must therefore be treated by default as masculine, giving name endings such as cinctus. Template:Cladogram

Species

The genus includes the following fifteen species:

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
File:White-browed tit (cropped).jpg	White-browed tit	Poecile superciliosus	central China and Tibet.
File:Poecile lugubris, Bulgaria 1.jpg	Sombre tit	Poecile lugubris	southeast Europe and southwest Asia
File:Poecile cinctus, Ivalo, Finland 1.jpg	Grey-headed chickadee (North American name) or Siberian tit (European name)	Poecile cinctus	subarctic Scandinavia and northern Asia, and also into North America in Alaska and the far northwest of Canada
File:Chestnut-backed Chickadee (14580910575).jpg	Chestnut-backed chickadee	Poecile rufescens	Pacific Northwest of the United States and western Canada, from southern Alaska to southwestern California
File:Poecile hudsonicus 18.jpg	Boreal chickadee	Poecile hudsonicus	Canada, Alaska, and northernmost portions of the lower 48 United States
File:Mexican Chickadee (18189229812).jpg	Mexican chickadee	Poecile sclateri	Mexico
File:Carolina Chickadee1 by Dan Pancamo.jpg	Carolina chickadee	Poecile carolinensis	United States from New Jersey west to southern Kansas and south to Florida and Texas
File:Poecile atricapillus CT3.jpg	Black-capped chickadee	Poecile atricapillus	Across North America, from New England to Newfoundland in the east, and from Washington to Alaska in the west
File:Mountain Chickadee (15241498235).jpg	Mountain chickadee	Poecile gambeli	western United States
	Père David's tit	Poecile davidi	central China in southern Gansu, western Hubei, southern Shaanxi and Sichuan
File:Black-bibbed Tit.jpg	Black-bibbed tit	Poecile hypermelaenus	central and eastern China to southeast Tibet and western Myanmar.
File:Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) (16).JPG	Marsh tit	Poecile palustris	temperate Europe and northern Asia
File:川褐头山雀四川若尔盖巴西唐军.jpg	Sichuan tit	Poecile weigoldicus	central China
	Caspian tit	Poecile hyrcanus	northern Iran, just extending into Azerbaijan.
File:Poecile montanus kleinschmidti.jpg	Willow tit	Poecile montanus	temperate and subarctic Europe and northern Asia

References

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