NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Owston's Tit
Sittiparus owstoni (Ijima, 1893)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Owston's tit (Sittiparus owstoni) is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae that is endemic to the southern Izu Islands south of Japan, occurring only on the islands of Miyakejima, Mikurajima and Hachijojima.
Owston's tit was formerly considered as subspecies of the varied tit but was promoted to species status based on the results of a phylogenetic study published in 2014. The species was first described by Ijima Isao in 1893, based on two females from Miyake-jima obtained by Alan Owston's collector, and named Parus owstoni in his honour. This was the first description of a bird by a zoologist from Japan.
It is larger than the varied tit, and lacks the buffish forehead and side of neck.
Wikipedia contributors, Owston's tit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:55:10.005354+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sittiparus owstoni (Ijima, 1893)
- Name authority
- (Ijima, 1893)
- Common name
- Owston's Tit
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paridae
- Genus
- Sittiparus
- 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
- genusSittiparus de Sélys-Longchamps, 1884
- speciesSittiparus owstoni (Ijima, 1893)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sittiparus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Chestnut-bellied TitSittiparus castaneoventris (Gould, 1863) | 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 varius owstoni (Ijima, 1893) (Ijima, 1893) | synonym |
| Parus owstoni Ijima, 1893 Ijima, 1893 | synonym |
| Sittiparus varius owstoni (Ijima, 1893) (Ijima, 1893) | 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=1279941 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:T2D37. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.