Systematics

Parus major newtoni Pražák, 1894, Ornithologisches Jahrbuch 5:239.—Britain; restricted to England by Mlíkovský (38 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of bird taxa (Aves) described by an ornithological swindler, Josef Prokop Pražák (1870–1904). Zootaxa 3005:45–68. Close ). An earlier restriction, to the Lake District, in northwest England, by Clancey (39 Clancey, P. A. (1948). The type-localities of three British races of Paridae described by Pražák. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 68:107–108. Close ), should be set aside with the rediscovery of the type specimen (see below).

Mlíkovský (38 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of bird taxa (Aves) described by an ornithological swindler, Josef Prokop Pražák (1870–1904). Zootaxa 3005:45–68. Close ) discussed the type material pertaining to this taxon. The holotype, a bird collected by an unknown collector on an unknown date [= prior to 1892] at an unknown locality in England (according to the label data), is held at the Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien (NMW 10664), who obtained it from Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847‒1909) in 1891. Pražák stated that he had examined 19 specimens of this form, but all of these specimens, except the holotype, may have existed only in Pražák’s mind; two specimens of British Parus major were in the Tschusi collection in 1906 when it was purchased by NMW, including NMW 33646 (formerly Tschusi 2595), collected in “England” in “winter” of an unknown year, and NMW 33648 (formerly Tschusi 4069), collected “near Brighton, Sussex” on 4 February 1894, but Pražák almost certainly did not see these specimens prior to publication of the original description (38 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of bird taxa (Aves) described by an ornithological swindler, Josef Prokop Pražák (1870–1904). Zootaxa 3005:45–68. Close ).

British Isles, Netherlands, Belgium, and northwest France. Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) and Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) confined this subspecies to the British Isles, with the first-named authority considering that newtoni graded into typical major in southeast England.

As nominate, but typically characterized on the basis of the bill being slightly longer (and culmen less curved), mantle slightly deeper green, less white in outer tail, male with ventral line broadly black and widening on belly, female with black areas duller, ventral line also narrower and can be broken on lower belly (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). However, Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) considered this to be a dubious taxon, being only subtly darker green on back, nearly always with yellow-tinged fringes to the tertials and tips to the greater coverts (usually whiter in nominate major), a stronger bill and legs, and on average slightly less extensive white on r6; Gosler (40 Gosler, A. G. (1999). A comment on the validity of the British Great Tit Parus major newtoni. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 119(1):47–55. Close ), however, noted that bill size is subject to seasonal variation. Size: wing of male 74‒81 mm (mean 76.7 mm, n = 23), wing of female 70–75 mm (mean 72.6 mm, n = 12); tail of male 58–67 mm (mean 63.1 mm, n = 22), tail of female 55–62 mm (mean 59.4 mm, n = 12); bill length 10.7–13.6 mm (mean 12.6 mm, n = 35) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus major Linnaeus, 1758, Systema Naturae, 10th edition, Tome 1, p. 189.—Europe.

Linnaeus based this name on a wide variety of prior indications, and there is no known extant type material associated with it.

Synonyms:
Parus intercedens C. L. Brehm, 1855, Der vollständige Vogelfang. Eine gründliche Unleitung, alle europäischen Vögel, p. 241.—Mitteldeutschland [Middle Germany]. The lectotype is a female collected at Greiz (50°40′N, 12°11′E), Germany, on 19 October 1819, by Carl F. Oberländer, and held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH 455803) (41 Hartert, E. (1918). Types of birds in the Tring Museum. A. Types in the Brehm Collection. Novitates Zoologicae 15(1):4–63. Close , 42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ). An additional female collected in October 1836, originally AMNH 455805, was exchanged to the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn; LeCroy (42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ) noted that if labeled intercedens by Brehm, it must be considered a paralectotype of this name, but this proves not to be the case and no specimen apparently ascribed to this taxon appears to exist in Bonn (G. M. Kirwan, personal observation September 2022).
Parus major verus C. L. Brehm, 1856, Naumannia 6:367.—Scandinavia and Germany. The whereabouts of the material (apparently multiple specimens) on which Brehm based this name does not seem to be known.
Parus major robustus C. L. Brehm, 1856, Naumannia 6:367.—Germany. What are presumably all syntypes of this name are held at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn; all were originally held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and all were collected at Renthendorf, Thuringia: a juvenile male and juvenile female collected on 20 June 1832, two more young males taken on 2 September 1855 (two of which are now ZFMK 64.1720 and ZFMK 64.1728), an adult male and adult female (said to be a pair) on 4 April 1832 (ZFMK 64.1697 and 64.1698), another adult female on 5 October 1839 (ZFMK 64.1731), and another adult male on 2 September 1855 (ZFMK 64.1721) (G. M. Kirwan, personal observation September 2022).
Parus major cyanotos C. L. Brehm, 1856, Naumannia 6:367.—Pomerania, Germany. What are presumably all syntypes of this name are held at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn; all were originally held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York: a female collected at Renthendorf on 29 March 1853 (now ZFMK 64.1732); an adult male from Rodatal on 10 January 1851 (ZFMK 64.1727); and a juvenile male taken at Renthendorf on 19 August 1830 (ZFMK 64.1707) (G. M. Kirwan, personal observation September 2022).
Parus pallidus C. L. Brehm, 1856, Naumannia 6:367.—Greiz [50°40′N, 12°11′E], Germany. The lectotype is a female collected on 24 October 1834, by Carl F. Oberländer, and held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH 455804) (41 Hartert, E. (1918). Types of birds in the Tring Museum. A. Types in the Brehm Collection. Novitates Zoologicae 15(1):4–63. Close , 42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ). The specimen (originally AMNH 455805), also a female, sent to the Bonn museum (now ZFMK 64.1738), and mentioned under Parus intercedens (42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ), proves instead to be a paralectotype of pallidus based on the original label in Brehm’s hand (G. M. Kirwan, personal observation September 2022). However, there are also two additional specimens labeled in Brehm’s hand as being pallidus, namely former AMNH 455796 (another female, now ZFMK 64.1739) and AMNH 455795 (a young individual, now ZFMK 64.1742), and these can therefore also be considered to be presumably paralectotypes (G. M. Kirwan, personal observation September 2022).
Parus maior [sic] sulfureus Kollibay, 1904, Journal für Ornithologie 52:459.—southern Dalmatia. No type material is clearly designated in the original description and no specimens that might be considered types have been identified among the more than 2,500 specimens belonging to Paul Robert Kollibay (1863‒1919) now held at the Muzeum Przyrodnicze, University of Wrocław (MPUW) (43 Roselaar, C. S. (2003). An inventory of major European bird collections. In Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age of Extinction (N. J. Collar, C. T. Fisher, and C. J. Feare, Editors), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 123A. pp. 253–337. Close ), having reached there via the former Zoologisches Museum der Universität Breslau, where significant parts of the collection were lost during the latter part of World War II (44 Tomiałojć, L. (2003). Main ornithological collections in southern Poland. Bonner zoologische Beiträge 51(2–3):153–155. Close ).
Parus major scytharum Floericke, 1920, Mitteilungen über die Vogelwelt 18:36.—Sarepta, southeastern Russia. The holotype (one of three males Floericke ascribed to his new taxon) was collected on 30 April 1913, and was held in the Förderverein Süddeutsche Vogelwarte (reg. no. 1340), an institute founded on Floericke’s initiative, but its whereabouts is currently unknown. Specimens belonging to Floericke are now widely dispersed, being found in museums in Bonn, Budapest, Sarajevo, and Stuttgart (43 Roselaar, C. S. (2003). An inventory of major European bird collections. In Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age of Extinction (N. J. Collar, C. T. Fisher, and C. J. Feare, Editors), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 123A. pp. 253–337. Close ; G. M. Kirwan personal observation), but in relation to the first two of these collections no type of this name was listed by van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) or Horváth (46 Horváth, L. (1970). The destroyed bird types of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Annales Historico Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 62:363–372. Close ).
Parus major holsaticus Floericke, 1926, Mitteilungen über die Vogelwelt 25:42.—Büsum, Schleswig-Holstein. In contrast to the following taxon, Floericke provided no clear indication of the material upon which this new nomen was based. As with his name scytharum, the whereabouts of the type material is unknown, but see below for comments on the dispersion of specimens originally belonging to Floericke.
Parus major alanorum Floericke, 1926, Mitteilungen über die Vogelwelt 25:42.—near Oporto, Portugal. The holotype is a male collected on 1 September 1921, which was held in the Förderverein Süddeutsche Vogelwarte (reg. no. 2658), an institute founded on Floericke’s initiative, but its whereabouts is currently unknown. Specimens belonging to Floericke are now widely dispersed, being found in museums in Bonn, Budapest, Sarajevo, and Stuttgart (43 Roselaar, C. S. (2003). An inventory of major European bird collections. In Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age of Extinction (N. J. Collar, C. T. Fisher, and C. J. Feare, Editors), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 123A. pp. 253–337. Close ; G. M. Kirwan personal observation), but in relation to the first two of these collections no type of this name was listed by van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) or Horváth (46 Horváth, L. (1970). The destroyed bird types of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Annales Historico Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 62:363–372. Close ). Under a much-revised geographical range for subspecies P. m. corsus, Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) listed alanorum in the synonymy of corsus, but apparently overlooked that the type locality designated by Floericke lies outwith even their vastly expanded distribution.
Parus major caucasicus Domaniewski, 1933, Acta Ornithologica Musei Zoologici Polonici 1:81.—Lagodekhi, Georgia, Transcaucasia. Original description not seen. The holotype, a male collected by T. Barej on 23 March 1887 [= 4 April 1887], was held at the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, but is believed to have not survived World War II (47 Mlíkovský, J. (2007). Types of birds in the collections of the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland. Part 2: Asian birds. Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 176(4):33–79. Close ). See comments in Khaleghizadeh et al. (48 Khaleghizadeh, A., K. Roselaar, D. A. Scott, M. Tohidifar, J. Mlíkovský, M. Blair, and P. Kvartalnov (2017). Birds of Iran: Annotated Checklist of the Species and Subspecies. Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran. Close ).

Mainland Europe (Scandinavia south to northern and central Spain and Portugal, central Italy and Balkans), western and south-central Siberia (east to Lake Baikal, south to northern and eastern Kazakhstan and Altai), Turkey, Caucasus, Azerbaijan (except southeast), and extreme northwest Iran (Ardabil) (48 Khaleghizadeh, A., K. Roselaar, D. A. Scott, M. Tohidifar, J. Mlíkovský, M. Blair, and P. Kvartalnov (2017). Birds of Iran: Annotated Checklist of the Species and Subspecies. Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran. Close ).

Described under Plumages.

P[arus]. m[ajor]. kapustini Portenko, 1954, Birds of the U.S.S.R., Volume 3, p. 109.—Sretensk, Transbaikalia.

Original description very brief and is not specific as to how many specimens were used by Portenko; the type material is held in the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg (ZISP) (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ).

Synonym (?):
Parus major bargaensis Yamashina, 1939, Tori 10:481.—Lamagulusu, Lake Dalainor, [Barga Plateau], northwest Manchuria [= Inner Mongolia, China] (50 Yamashina, Y. (1939). Note on the specimens of Manchurian birds chiefly made by Mr. Hyojiro Orii in 1935. Tori 10(49):446–544. Close ). The holotype is an adult male collected on 22 April 1935 by Orii Hyōjirō (1883–1970), and held at the Yamashina Institute of Ornithology, Abiko (YIO-00128) (see 51 Hachisuka, M. (1942). Birds described by the Japanese authors. Tori 11(53–54):270–351. Close , 49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ). Name omitted by Snow (21 Snow, D. W. (1967). Family Paridae, titmice. In Check-list of Birds of the World. A Continuation of the Work of James L. Peters, Volume 12 (R. A. Paynter, Editor), Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 70–124. Close ). Cheng (52 Cheng Tso-hin (1987). A Synopsis of the Avifauna of China. Science Press, Beijing, and Paul Parey, Hamburg. Close ) considered this name to be a synonym of P. m. artatus, Thayer and Bangs, 1909, which is nowadays treated as a synonym of Parus minor minor (Japanese Tit), but this attribution is now known to be incorrect (53 Eck, S., and J. Martens (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 49. A preliminary review of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologsiche Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):1–63. Close ). It has been listed also in the synonymy of the nominate subspecies (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ). P. m. bargaensis was accepted as a valid subspecies by Eck and Martens (53 Eck, S., and J. Martens (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 49. A preliminary review of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologsiche Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):1–63. Close ) and Dickinson and Christidis (54 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth Edition. Volume 2. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ).

Northwest China (northwest Xinjiang) to Mongolia and eastern Siberia.

Paler above (more grayish blue, less bright and yellow-green) and below than nominate (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Parus corsus O. Kleinschmidt, 1903, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 11:6.—Ajaccio, Corsica.

In the original description, Kleinschmidt referred to the “type” being from Ajaccio, where it was collected on 18 January 1902. Subsequently, in the catalogue of his collection, published in the 1930s and 1940s, he indicated that he had nine specimens from Corsica “including [the] type” (cf. 45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ). From this, Rheinwald and van den Elzen (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ) and, later, van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) listed a male, taken on the date reported by Kleinschmidt, held in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn (ZFMK Coll. Kl. 4129) as the holotype, but also listed four males and four females (ZFMK Coll. Kl. 4130–4137), collected at Ajaccio between 18 January and 15 February 1902, as “probable paralectotypes”. These other specimens must be considered to be paratypes; reference to them being paralectotypes is erroneous. Some three specimens (two males, including ZFMK Coll. Kl. 4129, and a female) in Bonn share the same collection date, 18 January 1902, but only one (ZFMK Coll. Kl. 4129) has an original Kleinschmidt label indicated “typus”, which appears to serve as evidence sufficient to determine its status as the unique type under Art. 72.4.1.1 (56 ICZN (1999). International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, UK. Close ). A male collected on 8 February 1902 at the same locality, also from the Kleinschmidt collection, and held at the Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde, Dresden (SMTD C26849) has also been listed as a paratype (57 Eck, S., and C. Quaisser (2004). Verzeichnis der Typen der Vogelsammlung des Museums für Tierkunde in den Staatlichen Naturhistorischen Sammlungen Dresden. Zoologische Abhandlungen 54:233–316. Close ).

Southern Portugal, southern Spain, and Corsica. Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) restricted the distribution of this subspecies to Corsica and Sardinia (the latter island occupied by subspecies ecki, which was described only a decade after Vaurie’s treatise had been published). Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) agreed with Vaurie by including Sardinia within the distribution of corsus, but unlike Vaurie included southern and southeast Spain as part of the range (but not Portugal), and also subsumed subspecies mallorcae herein by treating birds from the Balearics as part of corsus.

As nominate but upperparts slightly duller or darker, grayish olive, has less yellow on nape and less white in tail (especially in Corsica, where white wedge on inner web of r6 measures 0‒11 mm, mean 4.5 mm, n = 33; but 0‒25 mm, mean 8.0 mm, n = 55 overall throughout range), and underparts paler yellow except grayish wash on flanks (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Sexing not always straightforward, as males regularly have black central band on underparts broken, like females, but unlike latter have more extensive and glossier black throat (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Size: wing of male 71‒77 mm (mean 74.0 mm, n = 37), wing of female 68.0–75.5 mm (mean 71.3 mm, n = 20); tail of male 58–68 mm (mean 63.1 mm, n = 37), tail of female 55–64 mm (mean 59.5 mm, n = 20); bill length 11.1–13.6 mm (mean 12.6 mm, n = 57) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus maior [sic] mallorcae von Jordans, 1913, Falco 9:44.—Valldemosa, Majorca.

In the original description, von Jordans referred to the “type” being in his collection but mentioned no further details. Rheinwald and van den Elzen (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ) and, subsequently, van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) considered that this name was probably described from a series of 13 specimens, based on von Jordan’s original handwritten labels. Consequently, the holotype is a male collected on 10 March 1913 by Adolf von Jordans (1892‒1974), held in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn (ZFMK G.X.1.a³.α) and the following specimens (all collected on Majorca by von Jordans) considered to be paratypes are also available in the same collection: ZFMK G.X.1.a³.β, unsexed, Lluch, 22 March1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.γ, male, Lluch, 18 March 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.δ., unsexed, Lluch, 22 March 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.ε, female, Esporlas, 20 May 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.ζ, male, Fornalutx, 17. March 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.η, male, Valldemosa, 19 May 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.θ, female, Esporlas, 12 March 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.ι, male, Esporlas, 20. May 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.κ, female, Esporlas, 20 May 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.λ, female, Santany, 9 May 1913; ZFMK G.X.1.a³.μ, male, Palma, Valldemosa, 10 March 1913; and ZFMK G.X.1.a³.ν, male, Fornalutx, 17 March 1913 (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ). The same specimens were identified as the lectotype and paralectotypes, respectively (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ).

Treated as a synonym of aphrodite by Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) and as a synonym of corsus by Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Endemic to the Balearic Islands.

Differs from nominate in slightly larger bill, more grayish-blue upperparts, slightly paler (pale yellow to grayish-white) underparts, and less white in tail (1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Parus major ecki von Jordans, 1970, Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden 31:213.—Mt. Tortoli, Sardinia. (58 von Jordans, A. (1970). Die westpalaearktischen Rassen des Formenkreises Parus major. Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden 31:206–225. Close )

The holotype, a male collected by Adolf von Jordans (1892–1974) on 28 April 1926, is held in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn (ZFMK G.X.1.a².ρ) (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close , 45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ). In the original description, von Jordans (58 von Jordans, A. (1970). Die westpalaearktischen Rassen des Formenkreises Parus major. Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden 31:206–225. Close ) mentioned that he had a total of 25 males and nine females to hand but included mensural data pertaining to 26 males! Bonn holds the following paratypes: Coll. Kl. 4153, female, Lanusei, Ogliastra, 14 November 1902, and ZFMK G.X.1.a².β, female, Talana, Ogliastra, 31 January 1903; ZFMK G.X.1.a².γ., male, Bari, Ogliastra, 23 March 1903; ZFMK G.X.1.a².δ, male, Loceri, Ogliastra, 6 February 1904; ZFMK G.X.1.a².ε, female, Loceri, Ogliastra, 6 February 1904; ZFMK G.X.1.a².ζ, male, Arzana, Ogliastra, 24 February 1904; ZFMK G.X.1.a².η, male, Ilbono, Ogliastra, 22 March 1904; ZFMK G.X.1.a².θ, female, Baunusei, Ogliastra, 3 March 1906; ZFMK G.X.1.a².ι, female, Lanusei, Ogliastra, 06 May 1906, all per Otto Kleinschmidt (1870‒1954); and ZFMK G.X.1.a².λ, male, Ogliastra, 13 February 1904; ZFMK G.X.1.a².μ, male, Ogliastra, 24 April 1906; ZFMK G.X.1.a².ν, male, Lanusei, 15 April 1924; ZFMK G.X.1.a².ξ, male, Lanusei, 18 August 1924; ZFMK G.X.1.a².ο, male, Lanusei, 20 February 1925; male, Lanusei, ZFMK G.X.1.a².π, and Mt. Tortoli, 25 April 1926; all taken by von Jordans (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close , 45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ). The whereabouts of the additional paratypes are currently unknown.

Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) had included population of Sardinia within subspecies corsus, but Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) also did this as part of a much-revised geographical definition for the latter population.

Endemic to Sardinia.

Resembles P. m. mallorcae, but with a bluish tinge on the upperparts and slightly paler underparts (1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Size: wing length of males 70‒76 mm (mean 72.3 mm, n = 26); wing length of females 69‒75 mm (mean 71.2 mm, n = 9) (58 von Jordans, A. (1970). Die westpalaearktischen Rassen des Formenkreises Parus major. Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden 31:206–225. Close ).

Parus major excelsus Buvry, 1857, Journal für Ornithologie 5:194.—Nrakta el abbia Forest, northeastern Algeria.

A probable syntype, an adult male, collected at Beni Terrah, Djebel Aurès, 35°14′N, 06°10′E, Constantine Province, Algeria, on 30 January 1856, by Leopold Buvry (1822‒????), is held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH 455807); in the original description, Buvry did not say how many specimens he had or whether some were from other localities he visited, but as already noted by Ernst Hartert (1859–1933) in an annotation on the specimen’s label, it seems likely to have formed part of the type series (42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ).

Synonym:
Parus major lynesi E. Hartert, 1926, Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles du Maroc 5:287.—oak forest above Azrou [33°27′N, 05°14′W], Middle Atlas, Morocco. The holotype is an adult male collected on 22 May 1924 by Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (1859–1933), and held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH 680380), along with two paratypes both collected on 7 May 1924 (AMNH 680378 and AMNH 680379), whilst a fourth specimen was apparently exchanged by Rothschild before the bulk of his collection was sold to AMNH (59 Hartert, E. (1928). Types of birds in the Tring Museum. C. Additional and overlooked types. Novitates Zoologicae 34:189–230. Close , 42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ). Additional paratypes include specimens collected by Lynes (60 Lynes, H. (1920). Ornithology of the Maroccan ‘‘Middle Atlas’’. Ibis (11)2:260–300. Close ) in the same area during 25 April–17 July 1919 and specimens from the mountain forests of the southern Atlas near Lambèse (Batna) that Otto Kleinschmidt (1870‒1954) had indicated to Hartert were of the same taxon (see 59 Hartert, E. (1928). Types of birds in the Tring Museum. C. Additional and overlooked types. Novitates Zoologicae 34:189–230. Close ). The whereabouts of this additional material needs to be established.

Northwest Africa (Morocco east to northern Tunisia).

As nominate, but brighter olive-green above, very little or no white on outer tail feathers (wedge on inner web of r6 is 0‒14 mm, mean 4.5 mm, n = 33), and underparts bright yellow (deeper than in previous two subspecies) (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Size: wing of male 71‒77 mm (mean 74.0 mm, n = 21), wing of female 70.0–75.5 mm (mean 71.7 mm, n = 12); tail of male 58–68 mm (mean 63.9 mm, n = 21), tail of female 57–62 mm (mean 60.1 mm, n = 12); bill length 11.5–14.1 mm (mean 13.1 mm, n = 29) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus major aphrodite Madarász, 1901, Természetrajzi Füzetek 24:272.—near Larnaca, Cyprus.

The two syntypes, a male and female collected by Káròly Glaszner (1856‒1926) on 18 February and 2 March 1901, were formerly held in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (HNHM 2715a and 2715b), but were destroyed in the fire of 1956 (46 Horváth, L. (1970). The destroyed bird types of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Annales Historico Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 62:363–372. Close ).

Synonym:
Parus maior [sic] peloponnesius Parrot, 1905, Journal für Ornithologie 53:547.—Kalamáta, southern Peloponnese [Greece]. This name is based on seven specimens, two of them a pair, all collected in the fourth week of March 1904 and in March 1905 by Carl Philip August Parrot (1867–1911), and might be presumed to be held in the Zoologisch Staatssammlung München (ZSM), but have not been located in that collection (M. Unsöld in litt. to G. M. Kirwan; G. M. Kirwan personal observation).

Southern Italy (including Sicily), southern Greece, islands in the Aegean, and Cyprus. Precise limits of range disputed: Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) omitted southern Italy from the distribution of this subspecies but did include Thrace (European Turkey), Crete, and the Balearic Islands (Spain); the latter is here considered to be occupied by the endemic subspecies mallorcae and Crete is inhabited by the subsequently described P. m. niethammeri.

Considered a variable subspecies by Shirihai and Svensson, with birds in west (southern Itay) greener on mantle (closer to major and corsus). Upperparts slightly darker than nominate, more olive-gray or lead-gray, with more extensive gray rump, and underparts variably yellow to pale cream (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Size: wing of male 70.5‒76.0 mm (mean 73.0 mm, n = 21), wing of female 67.5–72.5 mm (mean 70.1 mm, n = 13); tail of male 59–65 mm (mean 61.9 mm, n = 21), tail of female 53–62 mm (mean 57.3 mm, n = 13) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus major niethammeri von Jordans, 1970, Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden 31:218.—Canea, Crete.

Type material subject to a degree of confusion and incorrect nomenclature. Adolf von Jordans (1892‒1974) listed as his “type” a male collected on 12 February 1925 by G. Schiebel, and held in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn, but without mentioning a registration number. Subsequently, in their inventory of Bonn’s type material, Rheinwald and van den Elzen (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ) listed two male specimens with identical collection data as syntypes of the name (ZFMK 57.858 and 57.859). They also listed 17 “paratypes” (all collected by Schiebel in 1925 and most taken at Canea, unless otherwise stated): ZFMK 57.857, female, 17 February; ZFMK 57.860, male, 14 February; ZFMK 57.863, male, 26 March; ZFMK 57.864, male, 20 March; ZFMK 57.865, male, 3 March; ZFMK 57.866, male, 21 February; ZFMK 57.867, female, 24 March; ZFMK 57.868, female, 24 April; ZFMK 57.869, female, 14 February; ZFMK 57.870, male, Souda Bay, 24 March; ZFMK 57. 871, female, Souda Bay, 15 March; ZFMK 57.872, female, Souda Bay, 15 March; ZFMK 57.873, male, Souda Bay, 10 May; ZFMK 57.874, female, Souda Bay, 14 February; ZFMK 57.875, male, Souda Bay, 26 April; ZFMK 57.876, female, Souda Bay, 26 April; and ZFMK 57.877, male, Wrysses, 3 April (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ). Subsequently, van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) listed ZFMK 57.858 and 57.859 as lectotypes, and the remaining specimens again as paratypes, noting that although von Jordans was evidently nominating a single specimen as the taxon’s type (holotype), the two males ZFMK 57.858 and 57.859 bear the handwritten notice “type” by von Jordans. However, the Code (56 ICZN (1999). International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, UK. Close ) is clear that a lectotype designation must be singular (Art. 74.1, Glossary), thus further revision is needed.

Both Rheinwald and van den Elzen (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ) and van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) noted that in preparing the original description von Jordans had a total of 18 males and 13 females available to him, none of which is very specifically identified in his paper. In addition to the 11 males and eight females in ZFMK, van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ) mentioned that two specimens (sex unknown, ZFMK 57.861–862) had been exchanged with the American Museum of Natural History, New York, although neither of these was listed by LeCroy (42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ). The whereabouts of the remaining ten specimens is wholly unknown (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ).

Endemic to Crete.

Very similar to P. m. aphrodite but with slightly larger bill, upperparts slightly duller or darker, less green, and underparts very pale yellow (1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Parus major terraesanctae E. Hartert, 1910, Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna, Band 1, p. xxxii.—Jerusalem.

The holotype, an adult male collected on 2 February 1899, apparently by a certain Bacher (no details traced), is held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH 680455); two additional specimens held at the same institution, perhaps also collected by Bacher, are paratypes—AMNH 680456, a male, taken on 13 February 1899, and AMNH 680457, a female also collected on 2 February 1899, both at Jerusalem, whilst a third paratype originally from the Rothschild Collection is AMNH 680465, which was collected in Palestine in summer 1894 (42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ).

Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and northeast Egypt.

As P. m. aphrodite and P. m. niethammeri, but upperparts slightly paler; marginally darker above than P. m. blanfordi (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) regarded this subspecies as also very similar to the nominate, but slightly smaller, with on average paler and cleaner yellow underparts, without any olive-gray on flanks, a larger and more prominent yellow-white nape patch, and duller and more subdued blue-tinged wings and tail. Size: wing of male 69‒77 mm (mean 72.5 mm, n = 12), wing of female 66.5–71.5 mm (mean 68.4 mm, n = 12); tail of male 57–68 mm (mean 61.5 mm, n = 12), tail of female 53–60 mm (mean 57.0 mm, n = 12); bill length 10.5–12.8 mm (mean 12.0 mm, n = 24) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus major blanfordi Pražák, 1894, Ornithologisches Jahrbuch 5:240.—Iran [= Tehran, fide Hartert, 1905, Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna, Band 1, p. 344] (30 Hartert, E. J. O. (1905). Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna. Systematische Übersicht der in Europa, Nord-Asien und der Mittelmeerregion vorkommenden Vögel. Band 1(3). R. Friedländer und Sohn, Berlin, Germany. Close ).

The holotype, a male collected by Enrico Andreini (1828–1894), an Italian army officer, who worked in Iran during 1857–1894, on an unknown date [= 1857–1888, possibly in the mid 1880s], is held at the Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien (NMW 33625) (38 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of bird taxa (Aves) described by an ornithological swindler, Josef Prokop Pražák (1870–1904). Zootaxa 3005:45–68. Close ). Pražák claimed that he based his new name also on a specimen in his private collection (reportedly a male), but Mlíkovský (38 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of bird taxa (Aves) described by an ornithological swindler, Josef Prokop Pražák (1870–1904). Zootaxa 3005:45–68. Close ) found no evidence that Pražák possessed any tit from Persia, or indeed from elsewhere in Asia.

Subsumed within the nominate subspecies by Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). In a subsequent genetic study, Tehrani et al. (35 Tehrani, S. J., L. Kvist, O. Mirshamsi, S. M. Ghasempouri, and M. Aliabadian (2021). Genetic divergence, admixture and subspecific boundaries in a peripheral population of the great tit, Parus major (Aves: Paridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 133(4):1084–1098. Close ) reported that all of their P. m. blanfordi samples were placed within the European clade of the major subspecies group, but some of their P. m. karelini (see below) samples clustered together in the phylogenetic tree, whereas others were scattered among European samples of the major group, with a few also within the P. m. intermedius subclade. In this respect, it bears mention that four of their karelini samples are from Ardabil, which herein is considered to lie within the distribution of P. m. major (see above).

Synonyms:
Parus maior zayrossiensis [sic] Zarudny and Loudon, 1905, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 13:108.—Zagros Mts., southwestern Iran. This name was evidently based on multiple specimens but their whereabouts are currently unknown, although a specimen in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn (a male collected at Samdalkal, western Iran, on 2 January 1904; ZFMK G.X.1.a⁵.β) was listed as a paratype by van den Elzen and Rheinwald (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ) but as a paralectotype by van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ); that Adolf von Jordans (1892–1974) labeled it as a “co-type” suggests the specimen is best considered a syntype and that a female syntype may well also exist, or have existed. Any other type material pertaining to this name is most likely to be held in the Tashkent State University, Tashkent (TASU), Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg (ZISP), or the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB) (see, for example, 43 Roselaar, C. S. (2003). An inventory of major European bird collections. In Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age of Extinction (N. J. Collar, C. T. Fisher, and C. J. Feare, Editors), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 123A. pp. 253–337. Close , 61 Kratochwill, K., and G. M. Kirwan (2004). Some corrections to, and comments on, recent papers on Iranian bird distributions. Sandgrouse 26(2):149–151. Close ), but in the present case the latter option can be eliminated (P. Eckhoff in litt. to G. M. Kirwan, November 2022). Synonymized with blanfordi by, among others, Buxton (62 Buxton, P. A. (1921). Notes on birds from northern and western Persia. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 27(4):844–882. Close ), Vaurie (63 Vaurie, C. (1950). Notes on some Asiatic titmice. American Museum Novitates 1459:1–66. Close , 20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ), and Snow (21 Snow, D. W. (1967). Family Paridae, titmice. In Check-list of Birds of the World. A Continuation of the Work of James L. Peters, Volume 12 (R. A. Paynter, Editor), Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 70–124. Close ). In contrast to their stance on blanfordi, Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) believed zagrossiensis to represent a valid taxon, endemic to southwest Iran, defined as being slightly smaller with on average paler and cleaner yellow underparts, as well as having subtly paler, duller, and more gray-tinged upperparts. Size: wing of male 74‒78 mm (mean 76.1 mm, n = 10), wing of female 69–78 mm (mean 73.0 mm, n = 9); tail of male 62–67 mm (mean 64.4 mm, n = 9), tail of female 57–67 mm (mean 59.9 mm, n = 9) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).
Parus major karelini Zarudny, 1910, Nascha Ochota [Our Hunting] 3:138.—Caspian coastal provinces of Ghilan, Masanderan and Asterabad, and woods of Talysch plain, northern Iran. New name for Parus maior [sic] caspius Zarudny and Loudon, 1905, preoccupied by Parus caspicus S. G. Gmelin, 1774 [= Motacilla cinerea Tunstall, 1771] (see also 64 Schodde, R., and W. J. Bock (2008). The valid name for the Grey Wagtail. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 128(2):132–133. Close ), thus takes same type locality as caspius; Vaurie (63 Vaurie, C. (1950). Notes on some Asiatic titmice. American Museum Novitates 1459:1–66. Close ), however, considered Talysch alone to form the type locality, but this does not seem to have represented a “restriction” in the formal sense, and was any case “reversed” in his later work (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ). Original description not seen, but was effectively republished the following year (1911) in the Journal für Ornithologie. Type material as for caspius Zarudny and Loudon, 1905, but the latter authors were opaque as to the specimens on which their description was based. A male in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn (collected at Kuljam-Chadschi-Ali, western Iran, on 13 October 1903; ZFMK G.X.1.a⁵.α) was listed as a paratype by van den Elzen and Rheinwald (55 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ) but as a probable paralectotype by van den Elzen (45 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ); that Adolf von Jordans (1892–1974) labeled it as a “co-type” suggests the specimen is best considered a syntype and that a female syntype may well also exist, or have existed. Taxonomic history convoluted: often accepted as a valid taxon, e.g., by Stresemann (65 Stresemann, E. (1928). Die Vögel der Elburs-Expedition 1927. Journal für Ornithologie 76(2):313–411. Close ), Vaurie (63 Vaurie, C. (1950). Notes on some Asiatic titmice. American Museum Novitates 1459:1–66. Close ), (21 Snow, D. W. (1967). Family Paridae, titmice. In Check-list of Birds of the World. A Continuation of the Work of James L. Peters, Volume 12 (R. A. Paynter, Editor), Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 70–124. Close ), and Dickinson and Christidis (23 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis (Eds.) (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ), but more or less equally frequently synonymized with nominate major by Buxton (62 Buxton, P. A. (1921). Notes on birds from northern and western Persia. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 27(4):844–882. Close ), Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ), and Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ); see also above.

Northern Iraq and north-central and southwest Iran (Kordestan and Zanjan throughout the Zagros, in the southern Elburz, and the eastern Elburz from Gorgan to the Golestan/Khorasan border and south to Kerman and Fars) (48 Khaleghizadeh, A., K. Roselaar, D. A. Scott, M. Tohidifar, J. Mlíkovský, M. Blair, and P. Kvartalnov (2017). Birds of Iran: Annotated Checklist of the Species and Subspecies. Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran. Close ).

As nominate, but mantle and scapulars duller or grayer, underparts pale yellow (but darker in east and south Elburz Mountains and into northern Iraq) and has more white in the outer tail feathers (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Parus bocharensis var. intermedius Zarudny, 1890, Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, Nouvelle Série, 3:789.—valleys of Karguy-Sou, Firouse and Gujarmaou, southwestern Transcaspia.

Name evidently based on multiple specimens but their whereabouts are currently unknown, although they are most likely to be held in the Tashkent State University, Tashkent (TASU), Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg (ZISP), or the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB) (see, for example, 43 Roselaar, C. S. (2003). An inventory of major European bird collections. In Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age of Extinction (N. J. Collar, C. T. Fisher, and C. J. Feare, Editors), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 123A. pp. 253–337. Close , 61 Kratochwill, K., and G. M. Kirwan (2004). Some corrections to, and comments on, recent papers on Iranian bird distributions. Sandgrouse 26(2):149–151. Close ).

This subspecies has variously been considered part of the group of subspecies now split as Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) (sensu 3 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1995). Chickadees, Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), or the entire population was considered to be possibly of hybrid origin by Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ), but Kvist et al. (66 Kvist, L., J. Martens, H. Higuchi, A. A. Nazarenko, O. P. Valchuk, and M. Orell (2003). Evolution and genetic structure of the Great Tit (Parus major) complex. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (Series B Biological Sciences) 270:1447–1454. Close , 67 Kvist, L., T. Arbabi, M. Päckert, M. Orell, and J. Martens (2007). Population differentiation in the marginal populations of the great tit (Paridae: Parus major). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 90(2):201–210. Close ) falsified both hypotheses using molecular data, finding that intermedius is a distinct subspecies within the major subspecies group. Tehrani et al. (35 Tehrani, S. J., L. Kvist, O. Mirshamsi, S. M. Ghasempouri, and M. Aliabadian (2021). Genetic divergence, admixture and subspecific boundaries in a peripheral population of the great tit, Parus major (Aves: Paridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 133(4):1084–1098. Close ) reported that in its low mitochondrial diversity and high genetic differentiation versus north-central Iranian populations suggest that intermedius should be considered a peripheral population. Nevertheless, Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) noted that a few specimens show traces of green on the uppermost mantle, and Formozov et al. (28 Formozov, N. A., A. B. Kerimov, and V. V. Lopatin (1993). [New hybridization zone of the Great Titmouse and Parus bokharensis in Kazakhstan and relationships in forms of Parus major superspecies]. Archives of the Zoological Museum, Moscow State University 30:118–146. (In Russian with English summary.) Close ) reported hybridization between intermedius and P. m. bokharensis in southwest Turkmenistan north of the Kopet Dag.

Synonym:
Parus major jitnikotvi Zarudny, 1910, Nascha Ochota [Our Hunting] 3:114.—lower and middle Atrek River and its tributaries, southwestern Transcaspia. Original description not seen (see also Journal für Ornithologie); whereabouts of the type material unknown.

Northeast Iran (eastern Golestan to eastern Khorasan) (48 Khaleghizadeh, A., K. Roselaar, D. A. Scott, M. Tohidifar, J. Mlíkovský, M. Blair, and P. Kvartalnov (2017). Birds of Iran: Annotated Checklist of the Species and Subspecies. Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran. Close ) and southwest Turkmenistan.

Upperparts light bluish gray (may be faintly tinged greenish), upper mantle is tinged olive, greater coverts edged pale bluish gray, alula black, much less white in tail (white wedge on inner web of r6 measures 13‒29 mm, exceptionally 7‒36 mm, mean 21.7 mm, n = 36), and underparts creamy to pale grayish white (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close , 1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Size: wing of male 71.5‒81.0 mm (mean 76.5 mm, n = 16), wing of female 69.0–75.5 mm (mean 73.3 mm, n = 12); tail of male 62–72 mm (mean 66.9 mm, n = 16), tail of female 55.5–65.5 mm (mean 61.5 mm, n = 12); bill length 11.5–13.6 mm (mean 12.8 mm, n = 28) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus bokharensis M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823, in Eversmann, Reise von Orenburg nach Buchara, p. 131.—Bukhara.

The holotype, an adult male collected by Alexander Eduard Friedrich Eversmann (1794–1860) on 23 March 1821 at Buxoro (39°46’29”N, 64°25′43″E), Buxoro Viloyati, (modern-day) Uzbekistan, is held in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB 4974) (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ; P. Eckhoff in litt. to G. M. Kirwan, November 2022). The precise status of this specimen is in need of double-checking (P. Eckhoff in litt. to G. M. Kirwan, November 2022).

Synonyms:
Parus bokharensis iliensis Zarudny and Bilkewitsch, 1912, Messager Ornithologique 3:132.—Djarkent, Semirechye. The type material is held in the Tashkent State University, Tashkent (TASU) (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ). Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) noted that populations grouped under this name have a slightly larger bill and average larger (wing length 68‒77 mm, versus 63‒72 mm in typical bokharensis).
Parus bokharensis panderi Zarudny, in Zarudny and Härms, 1913, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 21:142.—Transcaspia. The whereabouts of the type material (Zarudny seems to have had multiple males and females) is apparently unknown (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ). Compared to typical bokharensis, this population is considered palest and most sandy (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ).
Parus major meinertzhageni Koelz, 1939, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 52:62.—Balkh, Afghan Turkestan [= Wazirabad, 36°46′N, 66°50′E, Afghanistan]. The holotype is an adult male collected on 28 November 1937 by Walter Norman Koelz (1895‒1989) and is held at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH 466804); some 14 paratypes were nominated, including five females and eight males also collected at Balkh (AMNH 466795–466803, AMNH 466805–466808), and a single female from Tashkurghan (AMNH 466809) (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close , 42 LeCroy, M. (2010). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 8. Passeriformes: Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, and Nectariniidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 333:1–178. Close ).

South-central Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and extreme northeast Iran (Khorasan) east to northern Afghanistan.

Has a slightly smaller white cheek patch, bluer-gray fringes to the flight feathers, slightly larger size and larger bill, but a shorter tail (1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). White wedge on inner web of r6 = 35‒52 mm (mean 45.1 mm, n = 24); wedge on r5 = 6‒41 mm (mean 27.5 mm, n = 24) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Size: wing of male 67‒80 mm (mean 72.8 mm, n = 30), wing of female 67–74 mm (mean 69.9 mm, n = 16); tail of male 67–81 mm (mean 73.9 mm, n = 30), tail of female 66.0–74.5 mm (mean 70.2 mm, n = 16); bill length 11.0–13.8 mm (mean 12.3 mm, n = 44) (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Parus cinereus ferghanensis Buturlin, 1912, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 20:84.—Kurschab Valley, 5,000 ft., Alai Mts., Ferghana (winter).

No details about the specimens upon which the new name is based were given in the original description, but three specimens collected in February and March 1912 and held in the Zoological Museum, Moscow University, were subsequently identified as comprising the lectotype and two paralectotypes (ZMMU R-10462, ZMMU R-10463, and ZMMU R-10464), based on original label data (68 Borissenko, A. V., E. A. Dunayev, M. V. Kalyakin, E. A. Koblik, S. V. Kruskop, V. F. Orlova, L. Y. Pavlinov, Y. A. Red’kin, Y. L. Sazonov, N. N. Spasskaya, P. S. Tomkovich, E. D. Vasileva, and L. A. Verigina (2001). Types of Vertebrates in the Zoological Museum of Moscow University. Moscow University Publisher, Moscow, Russia. Close ).

Treated as a synonym of bokharensis by Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ), although he noted that populations included under this name are “slightly darker, bluer above”. Shirihai and Svensson (24 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2. Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ) went further still and treated both ferghanensis and turkestanicus as synonyms of bokharensis, which they considered to represent a species separate from Parus major.

Mountains in Tajikistan (Pamir, Alai) and Kyrgyzstan east to western Tien Shan.

Differs from P. m. bokharensis in slightly smaller bill, upperparts slightly paler grayish blue, flanks washed darker gray; and juvenile is more visibly yellow on the face and underparts (1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Parus bocharensis [sic] turkestanicus Zarudny and Loudon, 1905, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 13:109.—Orchu River, Dzungaria and Djarkent, Semirechye; restricted to Orchu River by Laubmann, 1913, Verhandlungen der Ornithologischen Gesellschaft in Bayern 11:275.

The whereabouts of the type specimens, a female collected at the Orchu River, and a male taken on 23 October 1899 at Djarkent, are apparently unknown (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ).

Synonym:
Parus hokharensis [sic] dzungaricus Zarudny and Bilkewitsch, 1912, Messager Ornithologique 3:132.—Dzungaria. The type material is held in the Tashkent State University, Tashkent (TASU) (49 Dickinson, E. C., V. M. Loskot, H. Morioka, S. Somadikarta, and R. van den Elzen (2006). Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50. Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 80(5):65–111. Close ).

Lake Balkhash to western China (Xinjiang) and southwest Mongolia.

Most closely recalls P. m. bokharensis, but bill is slightly larger and upperparts are darker (but paler than P. m. ferghanensis) (1 Harrap, S., and D. Quinn (1996). Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Vaurie (20 Vaurie, C. (1959). The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna: a Systematic Reference. Order Passeriformes. H. F. & G. Witherby, London, UK. Close ) also stated that this subspecies is longer winged than bokharensis, with wing length 74‒78 mm (mean 76 mm, n = 9), versus 63.0‒72.5 mm (mean 69.0 mm, n = 10).