NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
White-winged Black Tit
Melaniparus leucomelas (Rüppell, 1840)
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.
White-winged black tit at Lake Abiata, Ethiopia
Peter Wilton · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The white-winged black tit (Melaniparus leucomelas) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is also known as the white-winged tit, dark-eyed black tit or northern black tit. The species was first described by Eduard Rüppell in 1840.
Wikipedia contributors, White-winged black tit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:00:04.295206+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Melaniparus leucomelas (Rüppell, 1840)
- Name authority
- (Rüppell, 1840)
- Common name
- White-winged Black Tit
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paridae
- Genus
- Melaniparus
- 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
- genusMelaniparus Bonaparte, 1850
- speciesMelaniparus leucomelas (Rüppell, 1840)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Melaniparus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Grey TitMelaniparus afer (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ashy TitMelaniparus cinerascens (Vieillot, 1818) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky TitMelaniparus funereus J. Verreaux & É. Verreaux, 1855 | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Miombo TitMelaniparus griseiventris (Reichenow, 1882) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-shouldered Black TitMelaniparus guineensis (Shelley, 1900) | ParidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Black TitMelaniparus niger (Vieillot, 1818) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Parus leucomelas Rüppell, 1840 Rüppell, 1840 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1279952 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:QV5TJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.