page_title: Coal tit
section_title: Subspecies
hierarchical_section_title: Coal tit / Taxonomy and systematics / Subspecies
caption_attribution_description: A photo of a Coal Tit (Periparus ater). Taken by me in Northern Germany. GFDL
context_page_description: The coal tit or cole tit, Periparus ater, is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout the temperate to subtropical Palearctic including North Africa. The black-crested tit is now usually included in this species.
  There are a few subspecies of the coal tit, those being the British, North African and continental ones. They are most commonly found throughout Europe and Russia in coniferous forests and trees.
context_section_description: 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 running from southwest to northeast.
  The British race P. a. britannicus has an olive hue to its brownish-grey back plumage, distinguishing it from the continental European nominate subspecies P. a. ater and P. a. abietum 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 coverts) and a larger bill than its relatives from Britain and the Continent.
  The North African race P. a. ledouci has yellow underparts and cheeks, and the 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; they include among others P. a. michalowskii of the Caucasus, P. a. phaeonotus of Iran, or the Himalayan coal tit P. a. aemodius of southwestern China.
caption: Adult continental coal tit, P. a. ater (note blue-grey back)
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