Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Petroicidae
Genus: Petroica
Species: P. macrocephala
Subspecies: P. macrocephala dannefaerdi
Binomial name: Subspecies: Petroica macrocephala dannefaerdi
Common name: Snares Island tomtit. Black tit
The Snares Island tomtit is the only melanistic form of P. macrocephala, and is confined to the relatively unmodified Snares Island Nature Reserve (48°02' S, 166°36/ E). It is one of five subspecies of this bird. It is a small, sedentary, flycatcher bird (>20 g). It has a large head, a short bill and its feet are a pale orange colour. Both sexes are completely black, the male being glossier than the female. It is named after Sigvard Dannefaerd (1853-1920) who was a Danish collector and photographer based in New Zealand.
Petroica macrocephala dannefaerdi (Snares Island tomtit)
Photo courtesy of Tamzin Henderson @ https://www.tamzinnz.com/
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
