Southern Black

114 Paridae: tits

measured in mature broadleaved woodland in the northern Transvaal (Tarboton 1981); a conservative extrapolation of this density over its southern African range indicates a population in excess of one million birds in this region. Habitat: It occurs mainly in broadleaved woodlands, including those dominated by Brachystegia, Baikiaea, Combretum, Mopane, Burkea and other broadleaved species, and this is largely reflected in the vegetation ana- lysis. It is scarcer and often absent from more arid savanna vegetation types, especially from the Kalahari. Unlike many other savanna birds, this species also enters Afro- montane and coastal forest. In KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern Cape Province it is found in both forest and thornveld, and it reaches its western limit here at about 25°E. Movements: It is resident and sedentary. The slight in- creases in reporting rates in winter in most Zones probably reflect greater detectability at this time of the year in de- ciduous woodland habitat. Breeding: The atlas records indicate a summer breeding season (mainly September–February) and indicates that breeding peaks later with increasing latitude. Egglaying data from Zimbabwe, the Transvaal and KwaZulu-Natal also suggest that breeding is slightly later in the south of the range (Dean 1971; Irwin 1981; Tarboton et al. 1987b). Interspecific relationships: Its range overlaps that of Carp’s Black Tit in two small areas (Clancey 1995), one of which is the Waterberg Plateau Park (2017A). At this locality the Southern Black Tit is in broadleaved woodland on Kalahari sand on top of the plateau, while Carp’s Black Tit is in Acacia savanna below and on the slopes of the escarpment. It competes for nest sites in most of its range with other hole-nesting species, including barbets, woodpeckers, Southern Black Tit hoopoes and starlings. Wherever it occurs it is a common Gewone Swartmees member of mixed-species bird parties. Historical distribution and conservation: Although Parus niger the past distribution has not been documented, it is unlikely to have been different from its present distribution. The The Southern Black Tit is a member of a complex of similar- Southern Black Tit is not of conservation concern in south- looking forms found in the savanna region south of the ern Africa. equatorial lowland forest belt that stretches east–west from the Gulf of Guinea through Zaire into East Africa. The W.R. Tarboton group has been the subject of several taxonomic assess- ments, each of which has produced a different interpreta- tion of species limits in the group. Clancey (1980b) recognized two species as occurring in Recorded in 1408 grid cells, 31.0% the southern African region, this species and Carp’s Black Total number of records: 19 981 Tit P. carpi. The latter is very closely related to the White- Mean reporting rate for range: 29.2% winged Tit P. leucomelas, found in Angola, Zambia and Zaire, and has previously been treated as a subspecies of this form (see also Clancey 1972b, 1985c). Clancey (1972b) claimed that Southern and Carp’s Black Tits are wholly allopatric in northern Namibia and that the range of the Southern Black Tit does not extend west of the Reporting rates for vegetation types Okavango River valley, but has recently reassessed the % 02040 situation and recognized areas of overlap in northern and central Namibia, based in part on atlas data (Clancey Arid Woodland 30.6 1995). In western Zambia the Southern Black and White- Okavango 30.2 winged Tits have a narrow zone of overlap (Benson et al. East Coast Littoral 30.1 1971). Miombo 27.0 The range of the Southern Black Tit across the eastern Mopane 25.6 half of the subcontinent follows the pattern of a typical Moist Woodland 25.4 woodland and savanna species. Over most of its range it Valley Bushveld 25.0 is a common resident; it is noisy and easily detected and E Zimbabwe Highlands 15.6 this accounts for the relatively high reporting rates in its Northern Kalahari 15.1 preferred habitats. A density of about 45 birds/400 ha was Afromontane Forest 11.8 Paridae: tits 115

14û

SOUTHERN BLACK TIT 5 1 18û

22û 2 6

26û

3 7 30û Reporting rate (%) > 39.9 23.1 — 39.9 2.0 — 23.0

< 2.0 34û 4 8 18û 22û 26û 14û 30û 10û 34û 40 1 5 40 20 20

40 2 6 40 20 20

40 3 7 40 20 20

40 40 Occurrence reporting rate (%) 4 8 Breeding reporting rate (%) 20 20

J ASONDJ FMAMJ J ASONDJ FMAMJ Models of seasonality for Zones. Number of records (top to bottom, left to right): Occurrence: 301, 0, 0, 5, 2604, 3095, 2358, 651; Breeding: 0, 0, 0, 0, 51, 46, 39, 24.