Coal tit
| Coal tit | |
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| Adult British coal tit, P. a. britannicus (note greenish-grey back) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Paridae |
| Genus: | Periparus |
| Species: | P. ater |
| Binomial name | |
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Periparus ater (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Global range in yellow | |
| Synonyms | |
The coal tit (Periparus ater) is a passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate to subtropical Eurasia and northern Africa. The black-crested tit is now usually included in this species.
This species was first described by Linnaeus in his 1758 edition of Systema Naturae. Linnaeus' primary reference was his earlier Fauna Svecica, whose cumbersome pre-binomial name Parus capite nigro: vertice albo, dorso cinereo, pectore albo ("black-headed tit with white nape, ash-grey back, white breast") became the much simpler yet no less unequivocal Parus ater. This name – meaning "dusky-black tit" – was simply adopted from older ornithological textbooks, ultimately going back to Conrad Gessner's 1555 Historiae animalium. Linnaeus' description was essentially the slightly rephrased species name from Fauna Svecica: P[arus] capite nigro, dorso cinereo, occipite pectoreque albo. – "a black-headed tit, with ash-grey back, and white back of the head and breast." He gave no type locality except "Europe", but his original description refers to the population inhabiting Sweden (which is consequently included in the nominate subspecies today). The current genus name, is Ancient Greek peri plus the pre-existing genus Parus. The specific ater is Latin for "dull black".
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