Birds · Passeriformes · Fringillidae

Blue Chaffinch

Fringilla teydea

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

The largest finch in the world, at 16-18 cm. The adult male is a deep dark blue above and paler below, with whitish belly and undertail coverts, almost black wings and tail and a very visible broken white eye-ring. The bill is stout and grey. The female is a dull olive-brown. The black frontal band above the bill appears only in the oldest males.

Size

16 cm – 18 cm

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

Estimated population

1,000-1,500 pairs for the former Fringilla teydea as a whole (Tenerife and Gran Canaria) according to BirdLife International

Temperate forestMountainHerbivore Diurnal Solitary Bird Temperate forest Mountain

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Fun facts

It is the official animal symbol of the island of Tenerife by law of the Canary Islands Government, alongside the dragon tree as the plant symbol.
Its chicks feed exclusively on insects, unlike those of other finches: the adults eat Canary Island pine seeds but do not give them to their young.
Its probable origin is an ancient invasion of common chaffinches arriving from Africa that evolved in isolation on Tenerife.
It is the animal symbol of the island of Tenerife by law of the Canary Islands Government, alongside the dragon tree as the plant symbol.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Natural Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis) forest between 1,000 and 2,000 m of altitude, whether dry, humid or mixed with laurel-heath understorey. It also frequents plantations of Canary Island pine and of Pinus radiata. For nesting it selects mature pine forest with a tall, dense canopy. It is absent only from the heights of El Escobonal and Fasnia
Litter / clutch size: Two eggs, in a nest built in the branches of trees. It breeds from May to July

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; SEO/BirdLife; MITECO (Inventario Nacional y Libros Rojos); Moreno et al. 2007; Martín y Lorenzo 2001; Carrascal 1987; Martín 1979 y 1987; Sangster et al. 2016; Banco de Datos de Biodiversidad de Canarias (Centinela); Webb, Berthelot y Moquin-Tandon 1842