African Blue Tit (Cyanistes) [XC336050]
by Daan Drukker from Abona (near Vilaflor), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain (song)
African Blue Tit (Cyanistes) [XC270069]
by Guido O. Keijl from Isla de la Palma (near El Paso), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias, Spain (call)
Subspecies
Parus caeruleus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) is retained as one species contra Gosler and Clement (2007) who split Cyanistes teneriffae, Dietzen et al. (2008) who split teneriffae including ultramarinus, Sangster (1996) who split ultramarinus, teneriffae, degener, ombriosus and palmensis and Schottler et al. (2002) who split palmensis and teneriffae.
Forms a superspecies with Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Azure Tit (Cyanistes cyanus). Previously considered conspecific with Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). Alternatively, subspecies ultramarinus and cyrenaicae of Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) may be better included as subspecies of African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae). Further research required.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
palmensis (Meade-Waldo, 1889) - La Palma, in north-western Canary Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, La Palma Blue Tit (Parus palmensis).
ombriosus (Meade-Waldo, 1890) - El Hierro (south-western Canaries). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Hierro Blue Tit (Parus ombriosus).
cyrenaicae (Hartert, 1922) - North-eastern Libya. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus).
teneriffae (Lesson, 1831) - La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, in central Canary Is.
ultramarinus (Bonaparte, 1841) - North-western Africa from Morocco east to northern Tunisia. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus).
degener (Hartert, 1901) - Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, in eastern Canary Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Fuerteventura Blue Tit (Parus degener).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet