Blue Chaffinch
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| Blue Chaffinch Conservation status: Lower risk (cd) | ||||||||||||||
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| Fringilla teydea Webb, Berthelot & Moquin-Tandon, 1841 |
The Blue Chaffinch, (Fringilla teydea), is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.
This bird is restricted to mountain Canary Islands pine (Pinus canariensis) forests on Tenerife and Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Its preference is for habitat at around 1100-2000m, but it will descend lower in bad weather. It builds its nest in a tree fork, and lays two eggs. This bird is not migratory. This species may form small flocks outside the breeding season.
The Blue Chaffinch structurally resembles a large Chaffinch, but the breeding male is unmistakable, with its largely blue plumage and grey bill. The female is like a large dark grey-brown female Chaffinch, but the wing bars are much weaker.
The food is seeds, but unlike most finches, the young are fed extensively on insects.
The song is shorter and weaker than that of the Chaffinch, and the flight call is croakier.