• 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Near Threatened	D2
2016	Near Threatened	D2
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
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	760 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2000-5000, 3200 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2015
Population trend	increasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	3.45 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The total population is estimated to be 1,000-2,500 pairs, equivalent to 2,000-5,000 mature individuals, however these numbers are unreliable as there has never been a proper census (BirdLife International in prep., 2021).

Trend justification: Overall trends are thought to be positive, with increases observed in the breeding range since the 1970s. Plantations of Pinus canariensis since the mid-20th century have been increasing the area of suitable habitat on Tenerife and restoring fragmented habitat (Barov and Derhé 2011; Keller, 2020). This is supported by BirdLife International (in prep., 2021), where there is believed to be increasing trends short-term (2007-18) and long-term (1980-2018). 

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Spain	Arico pine woodland
Spain	Tágara gully
Spain	Vilaflor pine woodland

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Temperate	major	resident
Altitude	300 - 2300 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	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		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 (2025) Species factsheet: Tenerife Blue Chaffinch Fringilla teydea. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tenerife-blue-chaffinch-fringilla-teydea on 03/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 03/01/2025.