---
title: "Tomtit"
description: "Petroica macrocephala — Birds. The tomtit (Petroica macrocephala) is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/tomtit
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Tomtit

> Petroica macrocephala — Birds. The tomtit (Petroica macrocephala) is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins.

- Scientific name: *Petroica macrocephala*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest)
- iNaturalist observations: 5815
- Wikidata: [Q139526](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139526)
- iNaturalist taxon: [14175](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/14175)

## Names

- en: Tomtit
- de: Maorischnäpper
- es: Petroica carbonera
- fr: Miro mésange
- nl: Maorivliegenvanger
- pl: Skalinek wielkogłowy

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (5333)

## Summary

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 miromiro and the South Island tomtit is known as ngirungiru. 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.

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

## Photo

![Tomtit](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/tomtit/medium.jpg)

Photo: mikoikoi · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/358098750

## Machine access

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