Family Tits and Chickadees (Paridae)
African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae)
Taxonomy
Parus Teneriffae
Lesson
, 1831,Tenerife, Canary Islands
.Previously considered conspecific with C. caeruleus, which in HBW included races ultramarinus and cyrenaicae; however, on multiple lines of evidence, including molecular#R#R and acoustic#R, these two races clearly belong with present species, all taxa of which differ from C. caeruleus by their blackish-blue vs pale blue crown and nape (3); broader, blacker collar and adjoining throat-patch contrasting with whiter forehead and face (2); darker upperparts (mid-blue or, in ombriosus, dull mid-green vs pale green) (1); longer bill (effect size in random 10 male specimens representing five races each 3.7, score 2); and different songs (allow at least 2). Distinctiveness of race degener weak, and genetic evidence places it within ultramarinus#R#R, although these two and indeed all other races have been suggested for species rank#R. Seven subspecies recognized.
Distribution of C. t. ultramarinus
The description of the distribution of the subspecies C. t. ultramarinus is incomplete. The African Blue Tit also occurs (and is widespread) on the Italian island of Pantelleria between Sicily and Tunisia.
Corso, A., Penna, V., Gustin, M., Maiorano, I. & Ferrandes, P. (2012). Annotated checklist of the birds from Pantelleria Island (Sicilian Channel, Italy): a summary of the most relevant data, with new species for the site and for Italy. Biodiversity Journal 3: 407–428.
Stervander, M., Illera, J.C., Kvist, L., Barbosa, P., Keehnen, N.P., Pruisscher, P., Bensch, S. & Hansson, B. (2015). Disentangling the complex evolutionary history of the Western Palearctic blue tits (Cyanistes spp.) – phylogenomic analyses suggest radiation by multiple colonization events and subsequent isolation. Molecular Ecology 24: 2477-2494.
Verena Keller