Whats in a Name ?

[big bill]

Have been looking at the Bird Gallery and have noticed the different scientific name given to the Blue Tit ,,,Cyanistes caeruleus and Parus caeruleus,,,, which is the proper name for this bird ?
Collins Complete Book on British Birds has it as Parus caeruleus and yet the RSPB site has it as Cyanistes caeruleus

[Dogghound]

Its Cyanistes caeruleus

[big bill]

Thanks for the reply Dogghoung so I take it Parus caeruleus is now obsolete?and no longer to be used ?

[Dogghound]

Yes Blue tits have been moved into the Cyanistes genus and out of the parus genus which Great tit and Coal tit are part of.

[big bill]

Thanks for that Dogghound now I will have to rename all my files again

[accipter]

In the first six of my books I looked in it said parus caeruleus old and new books strange maybe someone know why. Alan.

[Adam Cheeseman]

It's those Taxonomists at it again. Virtually all of our Parus species are now something else. Only the Great Tit remains as a Parus. Coal Tit is now Periparus ater, Marsh Tit Poecile palustris, Willow Tit Poecile montanus, Crested Tit Lophophanus cristatus and Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus. Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus is a separate family.

Cheers,

Adam

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by accipter

In the first six of my books I looked in it said parus caeruleus old and new books strange maybe someone know why. Alan.

The changes are too recent to have been included in anything but the most recently published books. The revised edition of the Collins field guide (printed in 2009) includes the new names for tits, gulls (some of the smaller gull species are no longer Larus, eg Black-headed Gull is now Choirocephalus ridibundus), and a few others, but most older books don't.

The new names are as a result of studies into how closely related the different species are, with the new names making the relationships between species clearer. In all likelihood there will be more changes in the near future as genetic studies of more bird families are made.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Yes Blue tits have been moved into the Cyanistes genus and out of the parus genus which Great tit and Coal tit are part of.

Coal Tit is no longer Parus either; it's now in the genus Periparus. Great Tit remains the only UK tit still in the genus Parus.

Crested Tit is now placed in genus Lophanes while both Marsh + Willow Tits have been placed in the genus Poecile.

See I've basically repeated what Adam has stated!

[Dogghound]

Interesting good to find out though, so im grateful for that . When were these changes made this year?