Canary Islands chiffchaff

Canary Islands chiffchaff
On Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Phylloscopidae
Genus:	Phylloscopus
Species:	P. canariensis
Binomial name
Phylloscopus canariensis (Hartwig, 1886)
Subspecies
Phylloscopus canariensis canariensis Hartwig, 1886 western Canary Islands chiffchaff Phylloscopus canariensis exsul Hartert, 1907 eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff (extinct, 1986?)

The Canary Islands chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis) is a species of leaf warbler endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. Sometimes the English name is spelled Canary Island chiffchaff (Sangster et al., 2002).

Taxonomy

Previously the Canary Island chiffchaff was considered as a subspecies of the common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita). Now it is recognised as a separate species under the name Phylloscopus canariensis (Clement & Helbig, 1998; Sangster et al., 2002) for the following reasons (compared to the common chiffchaff) (Helbig et al., 1996):

• Smaller in size
• Shorter wings
• Wings rounder
• Vocalizations different
• mtDNA sequence divergence

Subspecies

• Western Canary Islands chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis canariensis): western Canary Islands: El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, and Gran Canaria
• Eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis exsul): eastern Canary Islands: Lanzarote and possibly Fuerteventura

References

1. BirdLife International (2012). "Phylloscopus canariensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

• Clement, P.; Helbig, A. J. (1998). "Taxonomy and identification of chiffchaffs in the Western Palearctic". Brit. Birds 91: 361–376.
• Helbig, A. J.; Martens, J.; Seibold, I.; Henning, F.; Schottler, B.; Wink, M. (1996). "Phylogeny and species limits in the Palearctic Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita complex: mitochondrial genetic differentiation and bioacoustic evidence". Ibis 138 (4): 650–666.
• Sangster, George; Knox, Alan G.; Helbig, Andreas J.; Parkin, David T. (2002). "Taxonomic recommendations for European birds". Ibis 144 (1): 153–159. doi:10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x.