MyKrugerHoliday
Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · source ↗
Southern Black Tit
Gewone Swartmees · Melaniparus niger
A lively black tit of woodland canopy, sooty-black with neat white edgings and flashes in the wings. Acrobatic and restless, it clambers and hangs upside-down among twigs and leaves searching for insects, frequently leading mixed-species feeding parties through the trees. Family groups keep up a harsh, churring, scolding chatter that often draws attention before the birds are spotted.
Log your Southern Black Tit sighting — free →How to identify it
Sooty-black with white edges to the wing feathers and white wing flashes; acrobatic, often hanging upside-down to feed.
Listen for its call
Harsh buzzy "chrr-chrr" scolding mixed with clear whistles.
Where to see it in Kruger
Resident in broad-leaved woodland and riverine trees park-wide, moving noisily through the canopy, often with mixed flocks.
Did you know
It hangs upside-down from twigs like a tiny acrobat to reach insects hiding under the leaves.
See it? Log it — free.
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