Varied Tit

Varied Tit (Sittiparus varius) is a distinctive East Asian tit with a black crown and bib, pale cheeks, chestnut underparts and grey-blue wings. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits forest and wooded gardens in Japan and neighbouring regions, feeding on insects, seeds and nuts, caching food and nesting in tree holes or artificial cavities. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).