Owston’s Tit
Sittiparus owstoni
- Family
- Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice (Paridae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
Owston's tit (Sittiparus owstoni) is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae that is endemic to the southern Izu Islands south of Japan, occurring only on the islands of Miyakejima, Mikurajima and Hachijojima.
Owston's tit was formerly considered as subspecies of the varied tit but was promoted to species status based on the results of a phylogenetic study published in 2014. The species was first described by Ijima Isao in 1893, based on two females from Miyake-jima obtained by Alan Owston's collector, and named Parus owstoni in his honour. This was the first description of a bird by a zoologist from Japan.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Southern Izu Islands (Miyake-jima, Mikura-jima, and Hachijo-jima).
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Owston's tit
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.