page_title: African blue tit
section_title: Taxonomy
hierarchical_section_title: African blue tit / Taxonomy
caption_attribution_description: English: Copy of Spain_Canary_Islands_location_map_with_Spain.png, amended to show ranges of the races of African Blue Tit Key Green: teneriffae Brown: palmensis Blue: ombriosus Yellow: ultramarinus
context_page_description: The African blue tit is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is found in northern Africa and the Canary Islands. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. This species and the Eurasian blue tit were formerly considered conspecific. The status of this species has not been assessed because it is noted to be common on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The species has been used in many research studies due to its island populations and relevance to evolutionary hypotheses.
context_section_description: This species and the Eurasian blue tit were formerly considered conspecific.
  Subspecies are:
  C. t. palmensis – Palma blue tit – La Palma, in NW Canary Is.
  C. t. ombriosus – El Hierro (SW Canaries)
  C. t. teneriffae – Canary blue tit – La Gomera and Tenerife, in WC Canary Is.
  C. t. hedwigii – Gran Canaria, in C Canary Is.
  C. t. degener – Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, in E Canary Is.
  C. t. ultramarinus  – Ultramarine tit – NW Africa from Morocco E to N Tunisia
  C. t. cyrenaicae  – Libyan blue tit – NE Libya
  The Canary Islands' subspecies has a black cap, and the African form has a blue back. Research is underway to split these populations into distinct species, with a peculiar "leapfrog" distribution:
  Research published in 2007 found that African blue tits on the eastern Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are indistinguishable from those in North Africa and so the subspecies degener should be regarded as a synonym of ultramarinus.
caption: Ranges of the Canary Islands races of African blue tit
   Green: teneriffae
   Brown: palmensis
   Blue: ombriosus
   Purple: hedwigii
   Yellow: degener
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