View source for Coal tit

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Redirect|Parus ater|the pseudonymous writer|Parus Ater}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Coal tit UK09.JPG
| image_caption = Adult British coal tit, ''P. a. britannicus''<br/>(note greenish-grey back)
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Periparus ater'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T22735965A118835425 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22735965A118835425.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Periparus
| species = ater
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = ''Parus ater'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
| range_map =PeriparusAterIUCN2018 2.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''P. ater''{{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}}
}}

The '''coal tit''' ('''''Periparus ater''''') is a small [[passerine]] [[bird]] in the [[tit (bird)|tit]] [[family (biology)|family]], Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in forests throughout the [[temperate]] to [[subtropical]] [[Palearctic]], including [[North Africa]]. The [[black-crested tit]] is now usually included in this [[species]].

==Taxonomy and systematics==
This species was first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his landmark 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']]. Linnaeus' primary reference was his earlier ''Fauna Svecica'', whose cumbersome pre-[[binomial nomenclature|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 ''[[Historia animalium (Gessner book)|Historia animalium]]''. He gave no [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] except "Europe", but his original description refers to the population inhabiting [[Sweden]] (which is consequently included in the [[nominate subspecies]] today).<ref>Gessner (1555): pp.616, Linnaeus (1746, 1758)</ref> The current genus name, is [[Ancient Greek]] ''peri'' plus the pre-existing genus ''[[Parus]]''. The specific ''ater'' is [[Latin]] for "dull black".<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n58 58], 298}}</ref>

[[File:Great-Tit.jpg|thumb|left|The colourful [[great tit]] (''Parus major'') with its bold wing-stripe. Before [[binomial nomenclature]], [[naturalist]]s found the [[folk taxonomy]] of this species and the coal tit quite confusing.]]
Gessner also notes that the coal tit was known as ''Kohlmeiß'' in [[German (language)|German]] – the literal equivalent of its [[English (language)|English]] name, though in its modern [[orthography]] ''Kohlmeise'' it refers to the [[great tit]] (''Parus major''). That bird was in Gessner's day usually called ''Spiegelmeiß'' ("multicoloured tit"<ref>Literally "mirror tit" (though its feathers are not [[iridescent]]), perhaps rather "wing-stripe tit", as in German [[ornithology]] ''Spiegel'' means a wing-stripe or -patch. The interpretation referring to its colorful plumage, though somewhat unusual, is the one given by Gesner however: ''a colorum pulchritudine quibus distinguitur'' – "for the beauty of its colors, which distinguish it"</ref>), ''Brandtmeiß'' ("burnt tit") or ''grosse Meiß'' ("great tit") in German. ''Kölmeyß'' was attested for ''P. major'' by [[William Turner (ornithologist)|William Turner]], but Turner does not list ''P. ater'' at all, while Gessner notes that his hunters always used ''Kohlmeiß'' for the present species. However, this has since changed, and the modern German name of ''P. ater'' is ''Tannenmeise'' ("[[fir]] tit"), after a typical [[habitat]]. This name is attested (as ''Tannen-Maise'') by [[Johann Leonhard Frisch]] in the early 18th century already, who furthermore records that ''P. ater'' was also called ''Kleine Kohl-Maise'' ("small coal tit") whereas ''Kohl-Maise'' referred unequivocally to ''P. major''. Frisch collected his data in the [[Berlin]] region, where the German dialect was [[Benrath line|quite different]] from that spoken by Gessner's [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]] sources 200 years earlier, and heavily influenced by [[Middle Low German]] – the language of the northern German sources of Turner. Regarding that, ''Tanne'' is derived from the [[Old Saxon]] ''danna'', and thus had spread through the German [[dialect continuum]] from north to south.&nbsp;<ref>Turner (1544a,b), Gessner (1555): pp.615–616, Frisch (1720{{Verify source|date=September 2009}}), Linnaeus (1758)</ref>

{{Update span|Most authorities still treat the coal tit in the [[subgenus]] ''Periparus'', but the [[American Ornithologists' Union]] considers ''Periparus'' a distinct [[genus]]. This is supported by [[mtDNA]] [[cytochrome b|cytochrome ''b'']] [[DNA sequence|sequence]] analysis; ''Periparus'' seems to be closer to the ''[[Poecile]]'' tits and chickadees than to the great tit and its relatives. Thus, it belongs to the more advanced [[Paridae]], in which the bright plumage of the more [[basal (evolution)|basal]] lineages is dulled down [[apomorph]]ically.<ref name = gilletal2005>Gill et al. (2005)</ref>|reason=This paragraph is outdated - Periparus is now widely recognized as a separate genus from Parus. More recent and more comprehensive phylogenetic studies (and other relevant sources incorporating information from them) should be cited here, e.g. Johansson et al. 2013 (Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 69(3):852-860). The same probably goes for the following paragraph.|date=October 2020}}

[[File:ParusCypriotesKeulemans.jpg|thumb|Illustration of ''Parus ater cypriotes'' by [[John Gerrard Keulemans]]]]
In addition, the same data suggest that this species is [[paraphyletic]] in regard to the closely related and [[parapatric]] [[spot-winged tit]] (''P. melanolophus'') from [[South Asia]], which looks like a slightly crested, darker version of ''P. ater''. Consequently, the spot-winged tit might have to be included in ''P. ater'', or some coal tits could be considered a distinct species. As occasional [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] has been recorded between the two, mtDNA alone (which is inherited only from the mother) is insufficient to determine whether hybrid [[gene flow]] or another trivial cause (such as [[incomplete lineage sorting]]) obfuscates the actual relationships, or whether [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] rearrangement is indeed required. With the range of these titmice encircling the [[Himalayas]], without further study it cannot even be excluded that they constitute a [[ring species]] – with gene flow occurring in [[Nepal]] but not in [[Afghanistan]] – as has been shown for other [[passerine]]s in the same region.<ref name = gilletal2005 />{{Update inline|reason=Additional studies relevant to coal/black-crested tit species limits have been published in the past decade and a half and should probably be cited here - Tietze et al. 2011 (J. Avian Biol. 42(3): 214–230) and Martens et al. 2011 (Orn. Monogr. 70: 64–94), and maybe Martens et al. 2006 (Zool Abh. 55: 103–120).|date=October 2020}}

===Subspecies===

A number of coal tit [[subspecies]] are distinguished. The differences in colouration are quite pronounced in some of them, while their differences in size are more subtle. Coal tits from Asia follow [[Bergmann's rule]], being larger in colder regions; those from further west, however, do not, as the birds from the uplands around the [[Mediterranean]] are larger than those from northern Europe. Across its range, tail length in relation to body length increases along a [[cline (biology)|cline]] running from southwest to northeast.<ref name = snow1954>Snow (1954)</ref>

The [[Great Britain|British]] race ''P. a. britannicus'' has an [[olive (colour)|olive]] hue to its brownish-grey back plumage, distinguishing it from the [[continental Europe]]an [[nominate subspecies]] ''P. a. ater'' and ''P. a. abietum''{{Verify source|date=May 2009}}<!-- valid? --> in which the back is bluish grey without a hint of green or brown. The Irish race ''P. a. hibernicus'' is distinguished from ''britannicus'' by the pale [[sulphur]]-yellow cheeks, breast and belly. It also has a paler rump (due to light fringes of the [[uppertail covert]]s) and a larger bill than its relatives from Britain and the Continent.<ref>BI [2009]</ref>

The [[North Africa]]n race ''P. a. ledouci'' has yellow underparts and cheeks, and the [[Cyprus|Cypriot]] ''P. a. cypriotes'' has a buff tinge to its upper parts, and deep buff underparts. Asian subspecies are generally rather dusky brownish except for the black-and-white head;<ref name = snow1954 /> they include among others ''P. a. michalowskii'' of the [[Caucasus]], ''P. a. phaeonotus'' of [[Iran]], or the Himalayan coal tit<ref>Bangs (1932)</ref> ''P. a. aemodius'' of southwestern [[China]].

<gallery mode = packed heights = 180px>
Periparus ater I.jpg|Adult continental coal tit, ''P. a. ater''<br />(note blue-grey back)
Cyprus coal tit (Periparus ater cypriotes).jpg|Cyprus coal tit, ''P. a. cypriotes''<br />(note buff underparts)
Coal tit (Periparus ater) on line.jpeg|Irish coal tit, ''P. a. hibernicus''<br />(note yellowish cheeks and breast)
</gallery>

==Description==
[[File:Coal tit (Periparus ater).webm|thumb|right|''Periparus ater'' filmed in Tokyo, Japan]] 
The coal tit is 10–11.5&nbsp;cm in length, and has a distinctive large white nape spot on its black head.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Svensson |first=Lars |title=Ptaki Europy i obszaru śródziemnomorskiego |last2=Mullarney |first2=Killian |last3=Zetterström |first3=Dan |last4=Graszka-Petrykowski |first4=Dariusz |last5=Stawarczyk |first5=Tadeusz |date=2023 |publisher=Multico Oficyna Wydawnicza |isbn=978-83-7763-647-3 |edition=Wydanie III, poprawione i zaktualizowane |series=Przewodnik Collinsa |location=Warszawa |page=358,359}}</ref> The head, throat and neck of the adult are glossy blue-black, setting off the off-white sides of the face (tinged grey to yellow depending on [[subspecies]]) and the brilliant white nape; the white tips of the [[wing covert]]s appear as two wingbars. The underparts are whitish shading through buff to rufous on the flanks. The bill is black, the legs lead-coloured, and [[iris (eye)|irides]] dark brown.

The young birds in juvenile plumage are duller than the adults, lacking gloss on the black head, and with the white of nape and cheeks tinged with yellow.<ref name=":0" />

While searching for food, coal tit flocks keep contact with incessant short ''dee'' or ''see-see'' calls. The species' song – if "song" it can be called – is a strident ''if-he, if-he, if-he'', heard most frequently from January to June, but also in autumn. The song resembles that of the great tit, but much faster and higher in pitch.<ref>A Field Guide to the Birds of Korea (2005). {{ISBN|89-951415-3-0}}</ref> One variant of this song ends with a sharp ''ichi''. North African birds also have a ''{{Not a typo|currr}}'' call similar to that of the [[crested tit]] (''Lophophanes cristatus'') which is not found in Africa.

==Behaviour and ecology==
[[File:Parus ater MWNH 2286.JPG|thumb|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]]]
It is typically a bird of [[temperate]] [[humid]] [[conifer]] [[forest]], but apart from that shows little [[habitat]] specificity. In [[Bhutan]] for example coal tits are fairly common residents above the [[subtropical]] zone, at about 3,000–3,800&nbsp;m [[Above mean sea level|ASL]], and are found in forests dominated by [[Bhutan fir]] (''Abies densa'') as well as in those characterized by [[Himalayan hemlock]] (''Tsuga dumosa'') and [[rhododendron]]s.<ref>Inskipp et al. (2000)</ref>

The coal tit is an all-year resident throughout almost all range, making only local movements in response to particularly severe weather; only the [[Siberia]]n birds have a more regular [[bird migration|migration]]. Very rarely, vagrants may cross longer distances; for example the [[nominate subspecies]] of [[continental Europe]] was recorded in [[Ireland]] once in 1960 and once before that, but apparently not since then.

Coal tits will form small flocks in winter with other tits. This species resembles other tits in acrobatic skill and restless activity, though it more frequently pitches on a trunk, and in little hops resembles a [[treecreeper]] (''Certhia''). Its food is similar to that of the others; it is keen on [[beechmast]], picks out the seeds from [[fir]] (''Abies'') and [[larch]] (''Larix'') cones, and joins ''[[Carduelis]]'' [[redpoll]]s and [[siskin]]s in [[alder]]s (''Alnus'') and [[birch]]es (''Betula''). It will also visit [[garden]]s to feed on a variety of foods put out, particularly [[sunflower seed]]s.

Coal tits in the laboratory prefer to forage at a variable feeding site when they are in a negative energy budget.<ref name=Bautista2001>{{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=L. M. |last2=Martín |first2=B. |last3=Martinez |first3=L. |last4=Mayo |first4=C. |year=2001 |title=Risk-sensitive foraging in coal tits |journal=Behaviour |volume=138 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.1163/156853901750077790 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/43939/1/Bautista%20Behav138%20p69%202001.pdf |access-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073246/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/43939/1/Bautista%20Behav138%20p69%202001.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 |hdl=10261/43939 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> They increase evening body mass in response to tawny owl calls.<ref name=Bautista2000>{{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=L. M. |last2=Lane |first2=S.J. |year=2000 |title=Coal tits increase evening body mass in response to tawny owl calls |journal=Acta Ethologica |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=105–110 |doi=10.1007/s102119900014 |s2cid=33198629 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/54947/1/Bautista%20ActaEthol2%20p105%202000.pdf |access-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220074040/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/54947/1/Bautista%20ActaEthol2%20p105%202000.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 }}</ref> 
After dawn the coal tits increases body mass as soon as possible if food is obtained at a low rate, increasing body mass exponentially until an inflection point when the increase of body mass is slower.<ref name="Polo2006b">{{cite journal |last1=Polo |first1=V. |last2=Bautista |first2=L. M. |year=2006 |title=Daily routines of body mass gain in birds: II. An experiment with reduced food availability |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=517–522 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.09.025 |s2cid=53156385 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/52621/3/Polo%20AnimBehav72%20p517%202006.pdf |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102738/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/52621/3/Polo%20AnimBehav72%20p517%202006.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 }}</ref> The inflection point of the body mass trajectory is 16.7% delayed compared to a high food availability.<ref name=Polo2006b/> Subordinate coal tits are excluded from feeding sites by dominants more often in the early morning than in the rest of the day, and they showed more variability in daily mass gain and body mass at dawn than dominant coal tits.<ref name="Polo2002">{{cite journal |last1=Polo |first1=V. |last2=Bautista |first2=L. M. |year=2002 |title=Daily body mass regulation in dominance-structured Coal tit (''Parus ater'') flocks in response to variable food access |journal=Behavioral Ecology |volume=13 |pages=696–704 |doi=10.1093/beheco/13.5.696 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/44065/3/Polo%20BehavEcol13%20p696%202002.pdf |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102615/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/44065/3/Polo%20BehavEcol13%20p696%202002.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In winter, the red blood cells of coal tits have been shown to contain more mitochondria, which consume oxygen and produce heat.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Birds' blood functions as heating system in winter|url=https://phys.org/news/2021-04-birds-blood-functions-winter.html|access-date=2021-04-10|website=phys.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nord|first1=Andreas|last2=Metcalfe|first2=Neil B.|last3=Page|first3=Jennifer L.|last4=Huxtable|first4=Anna|last5=McCafferty|first5=Dominic J.|last6=Dawson|first6=Neal J.|date=2021|title=Avian red blood cell mitochondria produce more heat in winter than in autumn|journal=The FASEB Journal|language=en|volume=35|issue=5|pages=e21490|doi=10.1096/fj.202100107R|pmid=33829547 |s2cid=233185485 |issn=1530-6860|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Being common and widespread, the coal tit is not considered a [[threatened species]] by the [[IUCN]].<ref>BLI (2009)</ref>

The coal tit has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of bird fleas (''[[Ceratophyllus gallinae]]'') reported from a single nest, 5,754 fleas.<ref name=Brinck>{{cite book|author1=Gunvor Brinck-Lindroth|author2=F.G.A.M. Smit †|title=The fleas (Siphonaptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-uevCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |year=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2075-0 |page=6}}</ref>

== Breeding ==
A favourite nesting site is a hole in a rotting tree-stump, often low down, and the nest is deep within the hole; holes in the ground, burrows of [[mouse|mice]] or [[rabbit]]s, chinks between the stones in walls, old nests of ''[[Pica (bird)|Pica]]'' magpies or other large birds, and [[squirrel]] dreys are also occupied. The materials, moss, hair and grass, are closely felted together, and rabbit fur or feathers added for lining. Seven to eleven red-spotted white [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s are laid, usually in May; this species breeds usually once per year.

==See also==
* [[Common treecreeper]] and [[Hodgson's treecreeper]]
* [[Greenish warbler]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* [[Outram Bangs|Bangs, Outram]] (1932): Birds of western China obtained by the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition. ''[[Fieldiana Zoology|Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser.]]'' '''18''' (11): 343–379. [https://archive.org/details/birdsofwesternch1811bang Fulltext] at the [[Internet Archive]]
* {{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=L. M. |last2=Martín |first2=B. |last3=Martinez |first3=L. |last4=Mayo |first4=C. |year=2001 |title=Risk-sensitive foraging in coal tits |journal=Behaviour |volume=138 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.1163/156853901750077790 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/43939/1/Bautista%20Behav138%20p69%202001.pdf |access-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073246/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/43939/1/Bautista%20Behav138%20p69%202001.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 |hdl=10261/43939 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=L. M. |last2=Lane |first2=S.J. |year=2000 |title=Coal tits increase evening body mass in response to tawny owl calls |journal=Acta Ethologica |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=105–110 |doi=10.1007/s102119900014 |s2cid=33198629 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/54947/1/Bautista%20ActaEthol2%20p105%202000.pdf |access-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220074040/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/54947/1/Bautista%20ActaEthol2%20p105%202000.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 }}
* BirdsIreland.com (BI) [2009]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509134548/http://www.birdsireland.com/pages/site_pages/features/coal_tit.html Irish subspecies – Coal Tit]. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
* {{cite iucn | author = BirdLife International | author-link = BirdLife International | title = ''Periparus ater'' | volume= 2016 | article-number = e.T22735965A87425717 | year = 2016 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22735965A87425717.en}}
* Frisch, Johann Leonhard (1720{{Verify source|date=May 2009}}): Der II.ten Hauptart I.te Abtheilung von den Maisen – I.te Platte ["First division of the second primary species, the titmice – Plate 1"]. ''In: Vorstellung der Vögel in Teutschland, und beyläuffig auch einiger fremden, mit ihren natürlichen Farben'', etc. (vol. 2): plate 13 [German with Latin and French captions]. F.H.Frisch, Berlin ("Berolinum"). [http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=277007 Digitized version]{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
* [[Conrad Gessner|Gessner, Conrad]] (1555): ''[[Historiae animalium]]'' (vol. 3) [Latin book]. Christoph Froschauer, Zürich ("Tigurium"). [https://archive.today/20121205030701/http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=279472 Digitized version]
* Gill, Frank B.; Slikas, Beth & [[Fred Sheldon (ornithologist)|Sheldon, Frederick H.]] (2005): Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-''b'' gene. ''[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]'' '''122''': 121–143. <small>[[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]]: 10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0121:POTPIS]2.0.CO;2</small> [http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1642%2F0004-8038%282005%29122%5B0121%3APOTPIS%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]
* Inskipp, Carol; Inskipp, Tim & Sherub<!-- no second name --> (2000): The ornithological importance of Thrumshingla National Park, Bhutan. ''[[Forktail (journal)|Forktail]]'' '''14''': 147–162. [http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/16pdfs/Inskipp-Bhutan.pdf PDF fulltext]
* [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus, Carl]] (1746): 241. ''Parus capite nigro: vertice albo, dorso cinereo, pectore albo. In: Fauna Svecica Sistens Animalia Sveciæ Regni'', etc. (1st ed.): 89 [Latin book]. Conrad & Georg Jacob Wishoff, Leiden ("[[Brittenburg|Lugdunum Batavorum]]"). [https://archive.today/20120724191109/http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/img/?IDDOC=255608 Digitized version]
* [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus, Carl]] (1758): 100.5. ''Parus ater. In: [[Systema naturae]] per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis'' (10th ed., vol. 1): 190 [Latin book]. Lars Salvius, Stockholm ("Holmius"). [http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100 Digitized version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613040751/http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100 |date=13 June 2017 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Polo |first1=V. |last2=Bautista |first2=L. M. |year=2002 |title=Daily body mass regulation in dominance-structured Coal tit (''Parus ater'') flocks in response to variable food access |journal=Behavioral Ecology |volume=13 |pages=696–704 |doi=10.1093/beheco/13.5.696 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/44065/3/Polo%20BehavEcol13%20p696%202002.pdf |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102615/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/44065/3/Polo%20BehavEcol13%20p696%202002.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Polo |first1=V. |last2=Bautista |first2=L. M. |year=2006 |title=Daily routines of body mass gain in birds: II. An experiment with reduced food availability |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=517–522 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.09.025 |s2cid=53156385 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/52621/3/Polo%20AnimBehav72%20p517%202006.pdf |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102738/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/52621/3/Polo%20AnimBehav72%20p517%202006.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2016 }}
* Snow, D.W. (1954): Trends in geographical variation in Palearctic members of the genus ''Parus''. ''[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]]'' '''8''' (1): 19–28. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2405662 First page image]
* [[William Turner (ornithologist)|Turner, William]] (1544a): De paris ["Of the titmice"]. ''In: Avium praecipuarum, quarum apud Plinium et Aristotelem mentio est, brevis et succincta historia'', etc.: 94–95 [Latin book]. Johann Gymnich, Cologne ("Colonia"). [http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0003/bsb00034183/images/ Digitized version]
* [[William Turner (ornithologist)|Turner, William]] (1544b): [List of German bird names]. ''In:'' van Langerack, Gijsbert<!-- AKA Gisbert Longolius, Gybertus Longolius, Gilbert de Longueil -->: ''Dialogus de avibus, et earum nominibus Graecis, Latinis, et Germanicis'', etc.: 95–97 [Latin book]. Johann Gymnich, Cologne ("Colonia"). [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k74821j Digitized version]

==External links==
{{Commons|Parus ater}}
* [[BBC Radio]]: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/rams/birdsong-coal_tit.ram Coal tit song]. Retrieved 21 November 2006.
* [[RSPB]]: [http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/coaltit/index.asp Coal tit]. Includes song and video. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202062754/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/392_CoalTitPater.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 2.8 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
* [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Parus_ater/Parus_ater.htm Feathers of coal tit (''Parus ater'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304100708/http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Parus_ater/Parus_ater.htm |date=4 March 2018 }}
* [https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=A4EBA919FCAFED5E Avibase].  Retrieved 23 October 2020.

{{Taxonbar |from=Q191096}}
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[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Birds of Eurasia]]
[[Category:Periparus]]