# Azure tit

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{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Expand Russian|topic=sci|date=April 2021}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Azure tit
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Cyanistes cyanus'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22735985A87434883 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22735985A87434883.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Azure Tit - Parus cyanus.jpg
| image_caption = 
| taxon = Cyanistes cyanus
| authority = ([Pallas](/source/Peter_Simon_Pallas), 1770)
| synonyms =
''Parus cyanus'' {{small|Pallas}}<br />
''Parus saebyensis'' ({{small|[Sparrman](/source/Anders_Sparrman)}})
| range_map = CyanistesCyanusIUCN.svg
| range_map_caption = Azure tit distribution map {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} 
}}

The '''azure tit''' ('''''Cyanistes cyanus''''') is a [passerine](/source/passerine) [bird](/source/bird) in the [tit](/source/Tit_(bird)) [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout [Russia](/source/Russia), [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia), northwest China, Manchuria, and Pakistan.

It is found in temperate and subarctic deciduous or mixed woodlands, scrub, and marshes. It is a resident species, and most birds do not [migrate](/source/bird_migration). It nests in tree holes, laying approximately 10 eggs. The bird is a close sitter, displaying defensive behaviors such as hissing and biting when disturbed. Its diet primarily consists of insects, seeds, small invertebrates, bug larvae, and eggs.

This {{convert|12|–|13|cm|abbr=on}} bird is unmistakable. Its head, tail corners, wing bars, and underparts are white, while the upperparts are blue. It has a distinctive dark line running through its eye.

This bird is the eastern counterpart of the common [Eurasian blue tit](/source/Eurasian_blue_tit). It will hybridise with that species, but the offspring usually show a blue crown, rather than the white of azure tit. The calls are similar to blue tit, calling ''{{not a typo|dee, dee, dee}}'' or a scolding ''{{not a typo|churr}}''. The song is a ''{{not a typo|tsi-tsi-tshurr-tsi-tsi-tshurr}}'', which has been described as intermediate between blue tit and [crested tit](/source/crested_tit).

There are some records of the species in other parts of Europe, including in Finland, Sweden, Poland and Austria.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.birdguides.com/articles/western-palearctic/rare-western-palearctic-birds-azure-tit/ |title=Rare Western Palearctic birds: Azure Tit |date=16 February 2007 |website=[Birdguides](/source/Birdguides) |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==<!-- Evolution8:19 -->
For many years the azure tit was known as ''Parus cyanus''.  In 2005, analysis of the [mtDNA](/source/mtDNA) [cytochrome ''b''](/source/cytochrome_b) [sequences](/source/DNA_sequence) of the Paridae indicated that ''Cyanistes'' was an early offshoot from the lineage of other tits, and more accurately regarded as a genus rather than a subgenus of ''[Parus](/source/Parus)''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Gill, Frank B.|author2=Beth Slikas and [Frederick H. Sheldon](/source/Fred_Sheldon_(ornithologist)) |year=2005|title=Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-''b'' gene|journal=Auk|volume= 122 |issue=1|pages=121–143 |doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0121:POTPIS]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=86067032 }}</ref>

The azure tit not infrequently [hybridizes](/source/Hybrid_(biology)) with the [blue tit](/source/blue_tit) in western Russia; the resulting birds are called '''Pleske's tit''' (''Cyanistes'' × ''pleskei'') and were once considered a distinct species.

The population in central Asia, [yellow-breasted tit](/source/yellow-breasted_tit) (''C. c. flavipectus'' or ''Parus flavipectus''), is sometimes included as a subspecies of the azure tit.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /><ref name=avibase>{{avibase|B9BE501675DAC3CA|Cyanistes flavipectus}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode='packed'>
File:azuretit48.jpg|Illustration of azure tit with "Pleske's tit" below
File:Cyanistes cyanus MWNH 1411.JPG|Eggs, [Museum Wiesbaden](/source/Museum_Wiesbaden) Collection
Cyanistes cyanus tianschanicus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.181.19.jpg|''Cyanistes cyanus tianschanicus'' - [MHNT](/source/MHNT)
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

*Harrap, Simon & Quinn, David (1996): ''Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers''. [Christopher Helm](/source/Helm_Identification_Guides), London. {{ISBN|0-7136-3964-4}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q499283}}

azure tit
Category:Birds of Russia
Category:Birds of Eurasia
azure tit
Category:Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Azure tit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_tit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_tit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.