- Daito Varied Tit
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Daito Varied Tit Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae Genus: Poecile Species: P. varius Subspecies: P. v. orii Trinomial name Poecile varius orii
(Kuroda, 1923)The Daito Varied Tit is an extinct subspecies of the Varied Tit. It was formerly found on Kita Daitō-jima and Minami Daitō-jima in the Daitō group east of the Okinawa Islands, but became extinct around 1940. It seems that the last specimens collected were Kuroda's types taken in 1922, and that the last confirmed sighting was in 1938. Searches in the 1980s and subsequently failed to find any. The subspecies became extinct following the habitat destruction brought about by settlement and construction activity in the 1930s.
It differed from the typical P. v. varius in having a broad chestnut-coloured band on the upper mantle, olive-green (not dark grey) lower mantle, and orangey (not white) sides to the head (Harrap & Quinn 1996, del Hoyo et al. 2007).
Like many bird taxa from the Okinawa region, the scientific name is named after the veteran specimen collector Hyojiri Orii.
See Varied Tit as for why present data suggests placement in Poecile instead of Sittiparus.
References
- del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A., & Christie D. (eds). (2007). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 9788496553422
- Harrap, S., & Quinn, D. (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-3964-4
- Kuroda, N. M. (1923). Descriptions of New Forms of Birds from the Borodino Islands. Bull. Brit. Ornithol. Club 43: 120-123
Categories:- Poecile
- Extinct birds
- Animals described in 1923
- Bird extinctions since 1500
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