A group of bird enthusiasts traced the rare white-naped tit for the first time at Kadakola village in the Kappatagudda hills, North Karnataka.
It is a passerine bird (any bird of the order Passeriformes) in the tit family Paridae.
Scientific Name - Machlolophus nuchalis.
Size - White-naped tit is a 12-13 cm medium-sized shy bird.
It is the only pied (black-and-white) tit in India.
Appearance – It has the wing-coverts, crown, sides of head, chin, throat, a ventral band running down the breast and belly to the vent black.
The cheeks below the eye, the ear-coverts and a patch on the nape are white.
The wing has white on the outer primaries and the base of the secondaries. The last tertiaries are completely white.
Nesting - It prefers nesting and roosting only in cavities made by coppersmith barbets and woodpeckers on old trees of Indian frankincense Toothbrush Tree, Gum Arabica, and Indian Jujube.
Distribution - It is very patchily distributed and endemic to India.
In India, it is found in only some parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, the Eastern Ghats of Southern Andhra Pradesh, Northern Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Southern Karnataka.
In South Karnataka, it’s documented only in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
Habitat – Found in dry thorny scrub forests in two disjunct populations, in western India and southern India.
This species is and has been vulnerable to extinction, especially because of the
Diet - It mainly feeds on insects and nectar from flowers of caper berries (Chippuri/Kariuppi).
Vocal - Quite vocal, commonly gives a 2- to 5-noted high-pitched “psi-psi-psi” ending in a harsh churrr.
Conservation status
IUCN – Vulnerable.
Threats - scarcity of suitable habitats, particularly nest cavities made by woodpeckers.
