The African blue tit (''Cyanistes teneriffae'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Paridae The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Members of this family are common ...

. It is found in northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is temperate

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. This species and the

Eurasian blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are ...

were formerly considered conspecific. The status of this species has not been assessed because it is noted to be common on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The species has been used in many research studies due to its island populations and relevance to evolutionary hypotheses.

Location

The African blue tit is found in Northern

and the

. It is wide spread on the Islands of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

and

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

, but scarce in local populations on

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

and

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

Description

The African blue tit ranges from in size. It is a small, sharp-billed, compact tit. The nominate race has a forehead and

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

to centre of nape white, crown deep glossy blue, becoming blackish on the neck, with a blue dorsal and yellow ventral body. The song is a variable repetition of one or two notes.

Diet

The species is known to consume a variety of caterpillars. The diet is not significantly different from '' C. caeruleus''.

Habitat

The African blue tit prefers

temperate forest A temperate forest is a forest found between the tropical and boreal regions, located in the temperate zone. It is the second largest biome on our planet, covering 25% of the world's forest area, only behind the boreal forest, which covers abou ...

s, both low and high lying. Lowlands area preferred on

and

, but populations on

and

prefer montane forests.

Breeding

The species breeds from February to July, and also possibly from October to January. It usually breeds earlier at lower levels compared to in montane areas. Egg-laying occurs when the photoperiod is longer, and extra-pair mates are chosen and synchronises with the highest density of caterpillars available for prey. This is a resident species—juveniles remain at their natal site; they do not disperse once they fledge.

Taxonomy

This species and the

were formerly considered conspecific. Subspecies are: * ''C. t. palmensis'' – Palma blue tit – La Palma, in NW Canary Is. * ''C. t. ombriosus'' – El Hierro (SW Canaries) * ''C. t. teneriffae'' – Canary blue tit – La Gomera and Tenerife, in WC Canary Is. * ''C. t. hedwigii'' – Gran Canaria, in C Canary Is. * ''C. t. degener'' – Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, in E Canary Is. * ''C. t. ultramarinus'' – Ultramarine tit – NW Africa from Morocco E to N Tunisia * ''C. t. cyrenaicae'' – Libyan blue tit – NE Libya * * The Canary Islands' subspecies has a black cap, and the African form has a blue back. Research is underway to split these populations into distinct species, with a peculiar "leapfrog" distribution: Research published in 2007 found that African blue tits on the eastern Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are indistinguishable from those in North Africa and so the subspecies ''degener'' should be regarded as a synonym of ''ultramarinus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10546857

African blue tit The African blue tit (''Cyanistes teneriffae'') is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is found in northern Africa and the Canary Islands. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. This species and the Eurasian blue tit were formerly c ...

Birds of North Africa Birds of the Canary Islands