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Poecile montanus
This is a small and lively tit, slightly smaller that sparrow, and mainly grey-brown above and of-white below, with a distinctive black crown the black descending down the nape. There is also a small black bib.
Found in alpine larch forest at some 2000m of altitude, in Écrins National Park in French Alps.
Very hard to differentiate from similar-looking Marsh Tit (P. palustris), most often differentiated by song. I was helped by its habitat though, as, according to the literature provided beside, Marsh tit is found up to 1300m, and mainly in deciduous forests. Here, we were on about 2000m of altitude, or slightly above, and in coniferous alpine larch forest, which lead me to conclude it was Willow Tit. Of the two subspecies of Willow Tit present in France, only the subspecies P. m. montanus is observed in Ecrins NP.
Spotted on Feb 22, 2022
Submitted on Feb 26, 2022
1 Comment
Great notes Zlatan. Recognising habitat is sometimes the only way to identify a critter and important to include. Thank you for sharing this beautiful high altitude bird 🙂