tit

tit

Tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor).

(credit: Dan Sudia-The National Audubon Society Collection)

Any of several woodland and garden songbird species in the genus Parus (family Paridae) having a rather stout, pointed bill. The great tit (P. major), found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia nearly to Java, is about 6 in. (14 cm) long. It has a white face, a black head, and a black center line on its underparts, which are yellow or buffy. The best-known North American species of crested tit is the tufted titmouse (P. bicolor), a 7-in. (17-cm) bluish gray bird with pinkish brown flanks. See also chickadee.

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tit

1. any of numerous small active Old World songbirds of the family Paridae (titmice), esp those of the genus Parus (bluetit, great tit, etc.). They have a short bill and feed on insects and seeds

2. any of various similar small birds

3. Archaic or dialect a worthless or worn-out horse; nag