Poecile

{{Short description|Genus of birds in the tit family Paridae}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Poecile

| image = Poecile montanus kleinschmidti 2.jpg

| image_caption = Willow tit, Poecile montanus

| taxon = Poecile

| authority = Kaup, 1829

| type_species = Parus palustris

| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

see text

}}

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.{{cite journal | last1=Gosler | first1=A. | last2=Clement | first2=P. | last3=Bonan | first3=A. | year=2019 | orig-year=2007 | title=Tits and Chickadees (Paridae) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | journal=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.parida1.01 | s2cid=216446005 | url=https://www.hbw.com/node/52340 | access-date=27 August 2019 |url-access=subscription }} This is supported by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence analysis.{{ cite journal | last1=Gill | first1=F.B. | last2=Slikas | first2=B. | last3=Sheldon | first3=F.H. | year=2005 | title=Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene | journal=Auk | volume=122 | issue=1 | pages=121–143 | doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0121:POTPIS]2.0.CO;2 | doi-access=free }}

The genus Poecile was erected by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829.{{ cite book | last=Kaup | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Kaup | year=1829 | title=Skizzirte Entwickelungs-Geschichte und natürliches System der europäischen Thierwelt | volume=c. 1 | language=de | place=Darmstadt | publisher=Carl Wilhelm Leske | page=114 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41576537 }} The type species was subsequently designated as the marsh tit (Poecile palustris) by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1842.{{ cite book | last=Gray | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1842 | title=Appendix to a List of the Genera of Birds | edition=2nd | place=London | publisher= R. and J.E. Taylor | page=8 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14050355 }}{{ cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Christidis | editor-first2=L. | editor2-link=Leslie Christidis | year=2014 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=2: Passerines | edition=4th | place=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-2-2 | page=428 }} The name Poecile is from Ancient Greek poikilos "colourful". A related word poikilidos denoted an unidentified small bird.{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2018 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url= https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/poecile | access-date=15 May 2018 }} 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.

{{Cladogram

|caption=Phylogeny of the Poecile based on Tritsch et al. 2017.{{Cite journal | last1=Tritsch | first1=Christian | last2=Martens | first2=Jochen | last3=Sun | first3=Yue-Hua | last4=Heim | first4=Wieland | last5=Strutzenberger | first5=Patrick | last6=Päckert | first6=Martin | date=2017 | title=Improved sampling at the subspecies level solves a taxonomic dilemma – A case study of two enigmatic Chinese tit species (Aves, Passeriformes, Paridae, Poecile) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=107 | pages=538–550 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.014| pmid=27965081 | bibcode=2017MolPE.107..538T }}

|align=centre

|cladogram={{Cladex| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%;width:420px;

|label1=Poecile

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=White-browed tit (Poecile superciliosus)

|2=Sombre tit (Poecile lugubris)

}}

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Grey-headed chickadee (Poecile cinctus)

|2={{clade

|1=Chestnut-backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens)

|2=Boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Mexican chickadee (Poecile sclateri)

|2={{clade

|1=Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

|2={{clade

|1=Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

|2=Mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli)

}}

}}

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|2={{clade

|1=Père David's tit (Poecile davidi)

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Black-bibbed tit (Poecile hypermelaenus)

|2=Marsh tit (Poecile palustris)

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Sichuan tit (Poecile weigoldicus)

|2={{clade

|1=Caspian tit (Poecile hyrcanus)

|2=Willow tit (Poecile montanus)

}}

}}

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