From Opus

Subspecies ultramarinus
Photo by mehdhalaouate
Central Morocco

Cyanistes teneriffae

Parus teneriffae

[edit] Identification

10.5-12cm

• Blue back, crown, nape, and tail
• Dark blue eyestripe
• Wings blue with a white wingbar
• White cheeks and forehead
• Yellow underparts with dark line down the abdomen.

[edit] Regional variation

Populations in western Canary Islands show narrow wing bar, and those in central Canary Islands lack wing-bar entirely while subspecies degener, the population on the eastern Canary Islands has broad white wing-bars, as broad as or broader than north African ultramarinus.

[edit] Distribution

Subspecies teneriffae: Photo by Ingo
Picture taken in Tenerife

The North African Blue Tit Cyanistes t. ultramarinus occur from sea level to 2100 m in the Atlas mountain range of Morocco and Tunisia. Some vagrant birds in winter can easily reach the latitude of 28 dg N in southern contry oasis. Subspecies cyrenaicae is found in Libya, while palmensis, teneriffae, ombriosus, and degener are found in different parts of the Canary Islands.

[edit] Taxonomy

Some authors have treated virtually every one of the subspecies described above as independent full species. Certain other authorities, principally the Howard & Moore 2003 edition, treats the African Blue Tit as several subspecies under Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus.

Final taxonomic note is that older books will have not the genus Cyanistes, instead this and other tits of that genus were believed to belong to Parus.

Subspecies degener: Photo by steenl
Picture taken in Fuerteventura

[edit] Subspecies

There are 6 subspecies^[1]:

• C. t. ultramarinus:

• North-western Africa (Morocco to Tunisia) and Pantelleria Island (southern Italy)

• C. t. cyrenaicae:

• Libya

• C. t. palmensis:

• La Palma Island (western Canary Islands)

• C. t. teneriffae:

• Canary Islands (Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria)

• C. t. ombriosus:

• Hierro Island (south-western Canary Islands)

• C. t. degener:

• Eastern Canary Islands (Fuerteventura and Lanzarote)

Dutch Birding treat C. t. degener as synonymous with C. t. ultramarinus.

[edit] Habitat

Deciduous and mixed woodlands.

[edit] Behaviour

It builds a nest from moss, wool, hair and feathers, and 7-8 eggs are laid in April or May.

[edit] References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Posts #97 and 98 in this BirdForum thread discuss African Blue Tit
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links