Southern Black Tit ( Parus niger, family: Paridae)

southern black tit kruger national park birds The Southern Black Tit (Latin name Parus niger) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 554 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 738 also a picture of the Southern Black Tit on page 769. The Southern Black Tit belongs to the family of birds classified as Paridae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Southern Black Tit is also known by these other names: Black Tit.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

Near endemic species is one that is confined to a specific geographical region rather than a single country for example. Certain birds in The Kruger National Park are near endemic to Mozambique, and Zimbabwe for example. One such example is the Southern Black Tit and this species depends upon a certain type of habitat for survival. Destroy that habitat and the bird becomes endangered.

In terms of distribution of the Southern Black Tit in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Southern Black Tit : see above distribution map.

The Southern Black Tit.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Southern Black Tit is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Southern Black Tit is about 16 cms and its weight is about 21 gms

You will find that the male Southern Black Tit plumage and colours are different to that of the female Southern Black Tit

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is black.
  • Back is black.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Southern Black Tit feeds in tree and shrub foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Southern Black Tit is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Parus niger will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Southern Black Tit is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 1 to 6

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Southern Black Tit are: woodlands . The Southern Black Tit is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Southern Black Tit in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isicukujeje

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Gewone Swartmees

German ... Mohrenmeise

Portuguese ... Chapim-preto-meridional

French ... Msange ngre

Dutch ... Roetmees

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 554

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za