NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Willow Tit
Poecile montanus (Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Willow Tit, a species of bird that has suffered a dramatic population decline over the past thirty years across Europe, and esp in Britain where it is an RSPB 'red status' bird. This image shows features that may differentiate it from the similar, but more common, Marsh Tit Poecile palustris: sooty cap, untidy bib, pale wing panel, larger white cheek, lack of pale patch on upper mandible. A definitive ID is usually obtained from its call.
Francis C. Franklin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The willow tit (Poecile montanus) is a passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and across the Palearctic. The plumage is grey-brown and off-white with a black cap and bib. It is more of a conifer specialist than the closely related marsh tit, which explains its breeding much farther north. It is resident, and most birds do not migrate.
Wikipedia contributors, Willow tit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:02:54.586546+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Poecile montanus (Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827)
- Name authority
- (Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827)
- Common name
- Willow Tit
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paridae
- Genus
- Poecile
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyParidae Vigors, 1825
- genusPoecile Kaup, 1829
- speciesPoecile montanus (Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Poecile. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pere David's TitPoecile davidi Berezowski & Bianchi, 1891 | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Boreal ChickadeePoecile hudsonicus (J. R. Forster, 1772) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray-headed ChickadeePoecile cinctus (Boddaert, 1783) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mountain ChickadeePoecile gambeli (Ridgway, 1886) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-bibbed TitPoecile hypermelaenus Berezowski & Bianchi, 1891 | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sombre TitPoecile lugubris (Temminck, 1820) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Marsh TitPoecile palustris (Linnaeus, 1758) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mexican ChickadeePoecile sclateri (Kleinschmidt, 1897) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-browed TitPoecile superciliosus Przevalski, 1876 | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sichuan TitPoecile weigoldicus (Kleinschmidt, 1921) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Poecile montana (Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827) (Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827) | synonym |
| Parus cinereus montanus Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827 Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827 | synonym |
| Parus montanus Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827 Conrad von Baldenstein, 1827 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=562353 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4KSC7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.