• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Fringilla teydea and F. polatzeki (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as F. teydea following AERC TAC (2003); Cramp et al. (1977-1994); Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	D	D1+2

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Endangered	D
2016	Endangered	D
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	30 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Number of locations	2	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	430 mature individuals	good	estimated	2019
Population trend	increasing	poor	observed	-
Generation length	3.24 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size is estimated to be 430 individuals, with 362 at Inagua (36 km²) and 68 at La Cumbre (21 km²) (Carrascal et al., 2019), estimated from breeding surveys, suggesting a total population of 645 individuals. These form part of the same subpopulation, as colour-marked birds from Inagua were first found breeding at La Cumbre, before captive-reared birds were released there to reinforce the wild population. Population density estimates vary: apart from the two years following the 2007 forest fire, densities in Inagua have remained stable, around 10 birds / km² (Moreno et al., 2018), with the highest recorded density of 17.7 chaffinches / km² in 2019 (Carrascal et al., 2019). In La Cumbre, estimates have increased from 1.12 in 2016 to 3.3 chaffinches / km² in 2019 (Carrascal et al., 2019).

Trend justification: The results of the annual monitoring scheme show clearly that the species population is currently increasing, and can best be described as having fluctuated within a fairly narrow range over most of the last twenty years (Carrascal et al. 2016). Although the devastating fire in 2007 caused the population to halve in 2008, it subsequently recovered rapidly at an average annual rate of 24% (Moreno et al., 2018) with numbers back up to pre-fire levels by 2011, around 50% higher again by 2016, and continuing to increase as shown by the 2015-2020 annual surveys (Carrascal et al., 2019). 

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Spain	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Spain	Pajonales, Ojeda, Inagua and La Data pine woodlands
Spain	Tamadaba pine woodland
Spain	Tauro pine woodland
Spain	Tirajana pine woodland

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Temperate	major	resident
Altitude	700 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Inbreeding
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Dendrocopos major	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Very Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch Fringilla polatzeki. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/gran-canaria-blue-chaffinch-fringilla-polatzeki on 24/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/11/2024.