# Poecile

Poecile is a genus of birds in the tit family Paridae. It contains 15 species, which are scattered across North America, Europe and Asia; the North American species are the chickadees. In the past, most authorities retained Poecile as a subgenus within the genus Parus, but treatment as a distinct genus, initiated by the American Ornithologists Union, is now widely accepted. This is supported by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis.
The genus Poecile was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829. The type species was subsequently designated as the marsh tit (Poecile palustris) by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1842. The name Poecile is from Ancient Greek poikilos "colourful". A related word poikilidos denoted an unidentified small bird. It has traditionally been treated as feminine (giving name endings such as cincta); however, this was not specified by the original genus author Johann Jakob Kaup, and under the ICZN the genus name must therefore be treated by default as masculine, giving name endings such as cinctus.
Poecile
White-browed tit (Poecile superciliosus)
Sombre tit (Poecile lugubris)
Grey-headed chickadee (Poecile cinctus)
Chestnut-backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
Boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)
Mexican chickadee (Poecile sclateri)
Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli)
Père David's tit (Poecile davidi)
Black-bibbed tit (Poecile hypermelaenus)
Marsh tit (Poecile palustris)
Sichuan tit (Poecile weigoldicus)
Caspian tit (Poecile hyrcanus)
Willow tit (Poecile montanus) :
Phylogeny of the Poecile based on Tritsch et al. 2017. :

## Species

The genus includes the following fifteen species:
| Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
| White-browed tit | Poecile superciliosus | central China and Tibet. |
| Sombre tit | Poecile lugubris | southeast Europe and southwest Asia |
| Grey-headed chickadee (North American name) or Siberian tit (European name) | Poecile cinctus | subarctic Scandinavia and northern Asia, and also into North America in Alaska and the far northwest of Canada |
| Chestnut-backed chickadee | Poecile rufescens | Pacific Northwest of the United States and western Canada, from southern Alaska to southwestern California |
| Boreal chickadee | Poecile hudsonicus | Canada, Alaska, and northernmost portions of the lower 48 United States |
| Mexican chickadee | Poecile sclateri | Mexico |
| Carolina chickadee | Poecile carolinensis | United States from New Jersey west to southern Kansas and south to Florida and Texas |
| Black-capped chickadee | Poecile atricapillus | Across North America, from New England to Newfoundland in the east, and from Washington to Alaska in the west |
| Mountain chickadee | Poecile gambeli | western United States |
| Père David's tit | Poecile davidi | central China in southern Gansu, western Hubei, southern Shaanxi and Sichuan |
| Black-bibbed tit | Poecile hypermelaenus | central and eastern China to southeast Tibet and western Myanmar. |
| Marsh tit | Poecile palustris | temperate Europe and northern Asia |
| Sichuan tit | Poecile weigoldicus | central China |
| Caspian tit | Poecile hyrcanus | northern Iran, just extending into Azerbaijan. |
| Willow tit | Poecile montanus | temperate and subarctic Europe and northern Asia |