Cinereous Tit

Presumed male Cinereous Tit.

These Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus ambiguous) are common in some parts of the world but occur in very localised areas in Malaysia. I have only ever seen them in mangrove forests and coastal Casuarina tree clumps. I saw three different birds; once a single bird and on the other occasion a pair. I am posting images of the pair. At first I thought this might be a male-female pair but both look like males.

Presumed male Cinereous Tit – bird same as that posted above.

Using Handbook of the Birds of the World 2020 and Wells 2009, female are differentiated from males by:

1. black ventral line  narrower and less intensely black
2. blacks duller especially on crown
3. fringes of greater coverts and secondaries greenish grey (not greyish blue)
4. black on side of neck narrower or broken
5. undertail-coverts more extensively white.

Presumed male Cinereous Tit with tail in moult.

Presumed male Cinereous Tit with tail in moult – bird same as that posted above.

Amar-Singh HSS (Dato’ Dr)

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Location: Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia

Habitat: Mangrove forest

Date: 20th August 2020

Equipment: Equipment: Nikon D500 SLR with Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, handheld with Rode VideoMic Pro Plus Shotgun Microphone