The Kopetdagh long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus rustamovi subsp. nova

The range of the long-tailed tit on the Kopetdag ridge on the border of Iran and Turkmenistan is isolated from the territory of the northern Iran which occupied by the subspecies Ae. c. alpinus. We have compared the coloration of 5 specimens from the Kopetdag with 20 specimens of Ae. c. alpinus and found a number of differences. Thus, we describe a new subspecies from the Kopetdag, Aegithalos caudatus rustamovi Redkin et Lukyanchuk subsp. nova is distinguished from Ae. c. alpinus by a lighter, purer-gray (Medium Neutral Gray, c. 84) back color, narrower black stripes on the sides of the head, light-whitish coloring of the chin, ear-coverts and sides of the neck, and also by smaller dark spot on the throat (in average). From Ae. c. tephronotus and Ae. c. passekii the Kopetdag race is differenced by a darker back and darker (brownish) color of brightened feathers of forehead, top of head and abdomen. The new subspecies is named after the eminent zoologist and conservationist Anver Keyushevich Rustamov (1917-2005), who made a great contribution to the study of the avifauna of Turkmenistan and other regions of Central Asia.