The Tenerife goldcrest, ''Regulus regulus teneriffae'', (sometimes considered a separate species, ''R. teneriffae'') is a very small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird in the

kinglet A kinglet is a small bird in the family Regulidae. Species in this family were formerly classified with the Old World warblers. "Regulidae" is derived from the Latin word ''regulus'' for "petty king" or prince, and refers to the coloured crowns ...

family, closely resembling the

goldcrest The goldcrest (''Regulus regulus'') is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colourful golden crest feathers, as well as being called the "king of the birds" in European folklore, gives rise to its English and scientific ...

but with a broader black band across the forehead, slightly darker underparts and a longer bill. It breeds in the Canary 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

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

, where it is a non-migratory resident. It prefers

Canary Island Pine ''Pinus canariensis'', the Canary Island pine, is a species of gymnosperm in the conifer family Pinaceae. It is a large, evergreen tree, native and endemic to the outer Canary Islands of the Atlantic Ocean. Description ''Pinus canariensis'' is a ...

forests, but also occurs in

laurisilva Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of Subtropics, subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glo ...

forests. The populations on

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...

and

El Hierro El Hierro, nicknamed ''Isla del Meridiano'' (the "Meridian Island"), is the second-smallest and farthest-south and -west of the Canary Islands (an autonomous community of Spain), in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a populatio ...

, previously thought to belong to this taxon, are now recognized as, at least, a distinct subspecies, the Western Canary Islands goldcrest ''R. (r.) ellenthalerae'' (Päckert ''et al.'', 2006), which evolved from an independent colonisation of the islands.

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern * Päckert, Martin; Dietzen, Christian; Martens, Jochen; Wink, Michael & Kvist, Laura: Radiation of Atlantic goldcrests ''Regulus regulus'' spp.: evidence of a new taxon from the Canary Islands. ''Journal of Avian Biology'' 37(4): 364–380.

Digital Object Identifier A digital object identifier (DOI) is a persistent identifier or handle used to uniquely identify various objects, standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). DOIs are an implementation of the Handle System; they a ...

: 10.1111/j.2006.0908-8857.03533.
HTML abstractElectronic Appendices
Regulus (bird) Birds of the Canary Islands Birds described in 1883 Endemic fauna of the Canary Islands Subspecies Taxa named by Henry Seebohm {{passeri-stub fr:Roitelet de Teneriffe