---
title: "Southern Black Tit"
description: "Melaniparus niger — Birds. The southern black tit or simply black tit (Melaniparus niger) is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae, which is native to woodland habitats in southern Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/southern-black-tit
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Southern Black Tit

> Melaniparus niger — Birds. The southern black tit or simply black tit (Melaniparus niger) is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae, which is native to woodland habitats in southern Africa.

- Scientific name: *Melaniparus niger*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest)
- iNaturalist observations: 1128
- Wikidata: [Q27075372](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27075372)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144834](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144834)

## Names

- en: Southern Black Tit
- de: Mohrenmeise
- es: Carbonero negro
- fr: Mésange nègre
- it: Cincia nera
- pt: Chapim-preto-meridional
- pl: Sikora czarna

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (862), MW (45), ZW (44), BW (37), ZM (35), NA (28), SZ (6), MZ (5)

## Summary

The southern black tit or simply black tit (Melaniparus niger) is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae, which is native to woodland habitats in southern Africa.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_black_tit

## Photo

![Southern Black Tit](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-black-tit/medium.jpg)

Photo: Kelly Abram · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/211032343

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/southern-black-tit?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).