Subspecies mediterranea sometimes synonymized with nominate.
Proposed subspecies taurica (described from Totakoi, near Simferopol, in Crimea), persica (from Damavand, in Iran) and fringillirostris (from Kashmir) all considered paler variants of bella, slightly darker variants of which occur in northern Turkey and Caucasus.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
autochthona (Clancey, 1946) - Scotland.
cannabina (Linnaeus, 1758) - Western, central and northern Europe (southern and central Scandinavia south to northern Spain, northern Italy, north-eastern Greece, western Turkey and Ukraine) and western and south-central Siberia east to upper R Yenisey, southern Krasnoyarsk and northern Altai. Non-breeding also northern Africa and south-western Asia.
bella (Brehm, CL, 1845) - West-central Turkey, Cyprus and Levant east to Caucasus, north-western and northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, north-western and north-eastern Afghanistan, southern and eastern Kazakhstan (south-western Altai, Tarbagatay and Tien Shan), western Mongolia and north-western China (northern and north-western Xinjiang). Non-breeding south to northern Pakistan (Baluchistan, Salt Range and Punjab).
mediterranea (Tschusi, 1903) - Iberia (including Balearic Is) east to southern Italy, Croatia, Greece, Crete and Aegean Sea islands, also north-western Africa (Morocco east to northern Tunisia and northern Libya).
guentheri (Wolters, 1953) - Madeira.
meadewaldoi (Hartert, 1901) - Western and central Canary Is (El Hierro east to Gran Canaria).
harterti (Bannerman, 1913) - Eastern Canary Is (Alegranza, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet