Black-capped Chickadee - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Though often placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships. The American Ornithologists' Union has treated Poecile as a distinct genus for some time.

The genus name Poecile has often been treated as feminine (giving the species name ending atricapilla); however, this was not specified by the original genus author Johann Jakob Kaup, and under the ICZN, the genus name must therefore be treated by default as masculine, giving the name ending atricapillus.