tomtit

The tomtit (Petroica macrocephala) is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins. It is endemic to the islands of New Zealand, ranging across the main islands as well as several of the outlying islands. In the Māori language, the North Island tomtit is known as and the South Island tomtit is known as . This bird has several other Māori and English names as well. There are several subspecies showing considerable variation in plumage and size. The species is not threatened and has adapted to the changes made to New Zealand's biodiversity.

==Taxonomy== The tomtit was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the tits in the genus Parus and coined the binomial name Parus macrocephalus. Gmelin based his account on the "great-headed titmouse" that had been described and illustrated in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. The naturalist Joseph Banks had provided Latham with either a specimen or a painting of the tomtit. The bird was seen at Queen Charlotte Sound on the north coast of New Zealand's South Island during James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Banks owned a painting of the bird by Georg Forster who had accompanied Cook on the voyage. This picture is now held by the Natural History Museum in London.