Canary Islands chaffinch

Canary Islands chaffinch
Fringilla canariensis canariensis male, La Gomera, Canary Islands
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Fringillinae
Genus:	Fringilla
Species:	F. canariensis
Binomial name
Fringilla canariensis Vieillot, 1817
Synonyms
Fringilla tintillonBarker-Webb, Berthelot, & Moquin-Tandon, 1841

The Canary Islands chaffinch (Fringilla canariensis) is a species of passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies group within the widespread Eurasian chaffinch F. coelebs, but was recently revised to be a species in its own right, following a genetic and morphological analysis of the genus Fringilla in 2021. ^{[1] [2]} It is endemic to the Canary Islands, and is thought to be largely resident within its distribution.

Taxonomy

There are four recognised subspecies: ^[3]

• F. c. bakeriIllera, Rando, M. Hernández, Claramunt, & A. Martin, 2018 – Gran Canaria
• F. c. canariensisVieillot, 1817 – Tenerife, La Gomera
• F. c. ombriosaHartert, 1913 – El Hierro
• F. c. palmaeTristram, 1889 – La Palma

Description

The Canary Islands chaffinch is similar in size to the Eurasian chaffinch at around 15–16 cm long, but differs markedly in plumage of the male, with a dark blue-grey mantle, and lighter pink face and breast, and whiter belly and undertail. As with all chaffinch species, the female is duller brown. The bill is similar to Eurasian and African chaffinches, not distinctly large like the related Azores chaffinch. ^[4]

• 
  F. c. bakeri female, Gran Canaria
• 
  F. c. palmae male, La Palma

References

1. Recuerda, María; Illera, Juan Carlos; Blanco, Guillermo; Zardoya, Rafael; Milá, Borja (2021). "Sequential colonization of oceanic archipelagos led to a species-level radiation in the common chaffinch complex (Aves: Fringilla coelebs)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 164: 107291. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107291 .
2. "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org.
3. "Finches, euphonias, longspurs, Thrush-tanager – IOC World Bird List". IOC World Bird List – Version 14.2. 2025-02-20. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
4. Shirihai, Hadoram; Svensson, Lars (2019). Handbook of Western Palearctic birds. volume 2: Passerines: flycatchers to buntings. London Oxford New York New Delhi Sydney: Helm. p. 357–358. ISBN   978-1-4729-3737-7.