Himalayan Black-lored Tit

Open encyclopedia reference

The Himalayan black-lored tit (Machlolophus xanthogenys), also known as simply black-lored tit, is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The yellow-cheeked tit is probably its closest relative, and it may also be related to the yellow tit. These three tits almost certainly form a distinct lineage, as indicated by morphology, and mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis (Gill et al., 2005).

Lore in the bird's common name refers to the area between eye and bill.

This species is a resident breeder along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent including Nepal. In Nepali, it is known as "Pandu Chichilkote".

It is an active and agile feeder, taking insects and spiders from the forest canopy, and sometimes fruit.

It uses woodpecker or barbet holes for nesting, and will also excavate its own hole or use man-made sites.

The Himalayan black-lored tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus Parus but was moved to Machlolophus after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 showed that the members of the new genus formed a distinct clade.

Wikipedia contributors, Himalayan black-lored tit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:13:24.347734+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Machlolophus xanthogenys (Vigors, 1831)

Name authority

(Vigors, 1831)

Common name

Himalayan Black-lored Tit

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Paridae

Genus

Machlolophus

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyParidae Vigors, 1825
11. genusMachlolophus Cabanis, 1851
12. speciesMachlolophus xanthogenys (Vigors, 1831)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Machlolophus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 43 records assigned to Paridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1279948 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:Q5N8L. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.