Animalia Life

Fringilla teydea
SUBFAMILY
Fringillinae
TAXONOMY
Fringilla teydea Webb Berthelot & Moquin-Tandon, 1841. Two subspecies are recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Canary Islands chaffinch, Teydefinch; French: Pinson bleu; German: Teydefink; Spanish: Pinzуn Azul.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The body length is about 5.9 in (15 cm). The male is uniformly slate-blue, darker on the back than on the belly, and whitish beneath the rump. It has faint wing-bars and a whitish eye-ring. The female is more drably gray-blue.
DISTRIBUTION
The blue chaffinch is endemic to the Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. It is restricted to the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
HABITAT
The blue chaffinch inhabits pine forest almost exclusively, at altitudes ranging from 2,300 to 6,600 ft (700 and 2,000 m). It inhabits both natural pine forest and older planted stands. It prefers areas with an undergrowth of broom (Chamaecytisus proliferus).
BEHAVIOR
The blue chaffinch is a non-migratory species. It is a melodic singer and is rather unafraid of humans.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
The blue chaffinch feeds on seeds, particularly those of pine. It also eats insects and other arthropods, and feeds its young almost exclusively with this food.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
The female blue chaffinch builds a nest of pine needles and branches of broom lined with moss, feathers, grasses, and rabbit hair. It is usually located in a pine tree, but occasionally may be found in heath (Erica arborea) or laurel (Laurus azorica). The female incubates a clutch of (usually) two eggs for 14–16 days. The chicks are blind and down-covered when hatched and are fed by both the male and female. Fledging takes place in 17–18 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
The IUCN lists the blue chaffinch as Conservation Dependent. This songbird has declined greatly in abundance. This decline began in the early decades of the nineteenth century because of the destruction and disturbance of their restricted
HABITAT
of mountain pine forests, and also because of excessive shooting by naturalists and commercial specimen collectors. In 2001, only about 1,500 breeding pairs were left, and their remaining forest habitat is becoming increasingly lost and fragmented, largely because of inappropriate forestry management. Without effective conservation of this rare species and its habitat, it could soon become endangered.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
The blue chaffinch is a rare species, and its sightings are much appreciated by birders and other naturalists that visit its island
HABITAT
. This can lead to some local economic benefits through ecotourism. In the past their melodic songs made them a prized possession among sailors, but commercial trade in these rare birds has ceased.

Other popular Animals