Michel Carré et la visiteuse venue de l’Est

The Azure Tit (Cyanistes cyanus) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout Russia and central Asia. This is the eastern counterpart of the common European Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus).
It can hybridise with that species in Western Russia : the resulting birds are called Pleske’s Tits (Cyanistes pleskei) and were once considered a distinct species.
They show a blue crown, rather than the white of Azure Tit. Their calls are similar to Blue Tit, calling « dee, dee, dee  » or a scolding churr. The song is a « tsi-tsi-tshurr-tsi-tsi-tshurr », which has been described as intermediate between Blue Tit and Crested Tit.
The 1st of December 2010, Michel Carré discovered a Pleske’s Tit in his garden in Grans, Bouches-du-Rhône (France) : we interviewed him.