'Splitting hairs''?: the Blue Tits of the Canary Islands'

2008·2.9 MB·

by  Guy M Kirwan

Photospot:
‘Splitting hairs’?: the Blue Tits of the Canary Islands
GuyM. Kirwan
‘Couper les cheveux en quatre? : les Mesanges bleues des lies Canaries. La Mesange bleue Parus
(Cyartistes) caeruleus est largement distribute dans le Palearctique occidental. Des donnees
genetiques recentes appuyent fortement la proposition qu’il s’agit en fait de plus d’une espece, les
15 taxonspouvantentoutcasetresubdivisesendeuxgroupesassezdistincts, tenerijfaeetcaeruleus.
Le premier se trouve dans les lies Canaries et, probablement, en Afrique du Nord, tandis que
caeruleusoccupele reste de l’aire de distribution continentale. Ce ‘photospot’ analyse et illustre les
variations al’interieur du groupe tenerijfae qui comprend cinq sous-especes dans les lies Canaries
,
et une ou deux en Afrique du Nord. Des preuves fournies par l’etude des vocalisations, des
differences de plumage plus limitees (mais neanmoins apparemment constantes), ainsi qu’une
differenciation genetique, incitent certaines autorites a traiter les taxons suivants comme especes:
tenerijfae (sur les lies de La Gomera et Tenerife), palmensis (La Palma), ombriosus (El Hierro),
hedwigii (Gran Canaria) et ultramarinus (en Afrique du Nord et dans les lies Canaries orientales
de Lanzarote et Fuerteventura). Des etudes supplementaires devraient tenter d’elucider si le taxon
degener decrit de Lanzarote et Fuerteventura, est valable ou devrait etre considere comme un
,
synonyme de ultramarinus, et si tous ces differents taxons meritent reellement d’etre traites
commes des especes apartentieresous l’application moderne du Concept Biologique des Especes.
T
he ‘humble’ BlueTitParuscaeruleus afamiliar This Photospotfocuses on the four, or (as only
,
bird to European readers, has proved, but very recently proposed) five, taxa occurring in the
recently, to be rather more enigmatic in its taxono- CanaryIslands, offnorth-westAfrica,whichareas
mythanwas longpresumed to be the case. Indeed, follows: Parus caeruleus tenerijfae Lesson, 1831,
onemightcasually, butcorrectly, stateitstaxonomy from La Gomera and Tenerife, P. c. palmensis
to be in positive turmoil, given that its proposed Meade-Waldo, 1899, ofLa Palma, P c. ombriosus
returntothegenus CyanistesKaup, 1829 (following Meade-Waldo, 1890, confined to El Hierro, P. c.
the results of the molecular study of Gill et al. degener E. J. O. Hartert, 1901, ofLanzarote and
2005), is alreadyaccruingwide support (Collinson Fuerteventura (though see below), and P c. hed-
2007, Gosler & Clement2007), whilstdebate over wigii Dietzen, Garcia-del-Rey, Delgado Castro &
whether to recognise one, two, or as many as five Wink, 2007, on Gran Canaria (from where birds
species has been ongoing for more than a decade. had previously been assigned to tenerijfae). From
Some 15 taxaarenowadaysrecognisedforthiscom- Eurasian races, they (and the NorthAfrican birds)
plex (Dickinson 2003, Gosler & Clement 2007), collectively differ in their blackish crown, blue-
which subdivide rather neatly into two groups, as grey to slate-grey upperparts (with the exception
noted, for instance, by Vaurie (1957), although of ombriosus, and to a lesser extent palmensis,
somedebatepersists concerningthemostappropri- which show some green on the upper mantle),
ate ‘home’ for theNorthAfrican races ultramarinus longer bill, and territorial songs, which are charac-
(Morocco to northern Tunisia) and cyrenaicae (of terised by rapid changes in frequency
north-east Libya); see below. Variation amidst the The vocal work undertaken by Becker et al.
&
rather larger group ofcontinental races, the nomi- (1980), Schottler (1993, 1995) and Schottler
nate caeruleus-group, is generally rather slight and Martens (1991, 1992) on these Canarian Blue
frequently clinal (see, for example, Harrap & Tits, as well as the morphological differences reit-
Quinn 1996), but the tenerijfae-group, as already erated by Grant (1979), and the proposal by
noted byVaurie {op. cit.), who preferred to clump Martin (1991) to ‘split’ the tenerijfae-group from
the African forms within it, represents a quite dif- the caeruleus-<gyo\ip, prompted a review paper by
ferent and, in the majority of cases, readily Sangster (1996). Sangster made the bold recom-
diagnosable assortment oftaxa. mendation to recognise not two, but five species
Photospot: theBlue TitsoftheCanaryIslands BullABCVol15No2(2008)-255
,,,,
within the complex, namely European BlueTit P. canneverthelessbedifferentiatedwithoutdifficulty,
caeruleus North African Blue Tit P. ultramarinus degener being paler above and below and showing
,
(including cyrenaicae) Tenerife BlueTit P. tenerif morewhite on the centerofthe abdomen.’
,
fae, Fuerteventura BlueTitP degener, Hierro Blue Because the Dietzen et al. (op. cit.) study
Tit P. ombriosus and Palma BlueTit P.palmensis. uncovered differences of 2.1% to 4.8% in
Outside the Netherlands, this proposal attract- mtDNA between the different named popula-
edlittle, ifany, publishedsupportbutundoubtedly tions, which might be considered rather high
pricked the interest oftravelling birders. Although between subspecies, the Dutch Birding
Harrap & Quinn (1996) had also noted the possi- Association (DBA) currently recognises tenerijfae
,
bility that more than one species might be palmensis, ombriosus, hedwigiiand ultramarinusall
involved, the relevantvolume (6) ofBirds ofAfrica as species (van den Berg2008). Nonetheless, with
(Fry & Keith 2000) continued to treat the two regard to both the DBA decision and the propos-
mainlandtaxaaspartofasinglewidespreadspecies al by Dietzen etal. (op. cit) to regard degeneras a
(Macaronesia, although deemed part ofthe ABC synonym ofultramarinus, itmerits reiteration that
region, was not included within that ofBoA), just very little, ifany, consensus exists concerning the
oneofmanytaxonomicdecisionstheeditorsmight levelsofgeneticdifferentiationrequiredtosupport
be tended to reverse with the benefit ofhindsight or deny different taxonomic status, much less to
(Fry etal. 2004). Indeed, since the publications of meaningfully interpret such differences within
Salzburger et al. (2002) and Kvist et al. (2004), insular or continental contexts, which it might to
both of whom uncovered significant levels of some extent be admitted present different playing
genetic divergence between the caeruleus- and fields. Furthermore, it is known that, at least in
tenerijfae-groups, there has been growing support some cases, levels ofvariation between avian taxa
for the recognition oftwo (European andAfrican)
species, although Gosler & Clement (2007), who Captionstophotos onoppositepage
also favoured the dual species approach, will have
surprised many by including the two North Figure 1.Tenerife BlueTit/MesangebleuedeTenerife
Paruscaeruleustenerijfae Las Lajas,Tenerife,July2006
AfricantaxawithinP.caeruleus,ratherthanP.tener- (AndrewGrieve)
iffae (Canary BlueTit therein). Figure2.Tenerife BlueTit/MesangebleuedeTenerife
Even more recently, another genetic (and mor- Paruscaeruleustenerijfae Las Lajas,Tenerife, December
phometric) study, by Dietzen etal. (2007), has led 2006 (CyrilSchonbachler)
tothedescriptionofanewtaxonfromtheCanaries, Figure 3. PalmaBlueTit/MesangebleuedeLaPalma
the above-mentionedhedwigii, from Gran Canaria. Paruscaeruleuspalmensis May2005, LaPalma, LosTilos
(Earlier, Kvistetal. 2005 hadalso uncoveredgenet- (DomingoTrujillo Gonzalez)
ic evidence that the population on Gran Canaria Figure4. Hierro BlueTit/ MesangebleuedeHierro
appeareddistinctfrom tenerijfae.) Dietzen etal. (op. Paruscaeruleusombriosus eastofFrontera, El Hierro,July
cit.) elected to treat the tenerijfae-group, including 2006 (AndrewGrieve)
ultramarinus, as a single species, but took the, at Figure 5. GranCanariaBlueTit/Mesangebleuede
firstsight, radicalstepofsynonymizingdegenerwith Gran CanariaParuscaeruleushedwigii,Ayacata, Gran
ultramarinus basedon theirnear-identical mtDNA Canaria,January2007 (Cyril Schonbachler)
,
(just 0.2-0.3% difference). Figure6.Juvenile Gran CanariaBlueTit/Mesangebleue
Given that degener occurs on the two eastern- deGran CanariaParuscaeruleushedwigii, Inagua, Gran
Canaria,June2007 (DomingoTrujillo Gonzalez)
most islands of the Canaries group, this is a less
surprising proposition than it might initially Figure7. FuerteventuraBlueTit/Mesangebleuede
FuerteventuraParuscaeruleusdegener, Lanzarote, May(©
appear. (As yet, the origin and colonisation history TaxonomyofBirdsoftheWorld:APhotographicHandbook,
oftheCanariesbyParuscaeruleusis unclear, butthe in prep., byJornvall &Shirihai, publisherA. &C. Black)
available evidence provides support for a multi-
Figure 8.African BlueTit/Mesangebleueafricaine
eventcolonisation theory: Kvistetal. 2005, Dietzen Paruscaeruleusultramarinus, Zida, Morocco,January
etal. 2007.) More than 50years ago, Vaurie (1957) 2006 (Augusto Faustino)
had alreadypointed out that ‘degener. . . approach- Figure 9.African BlueTit/ Mesangebleueafricaine
es thecoloration ofultramarinus’, but had persisted Paruscaeruleusultramarinus, DayetAoua, Ifrane,
in maintaining the former name because ‘the two Morocco,January2006 (Augusto Faustino)
256-BullABCVol15No2(2008) Photospot: theBlue TitsoftheCanaryIslands
Photospot:theBlue TitsoftheCanaryIslands BullABClto!15No2(2008)-257
)
may differ quite strikingly depending on whether lystrikingwhitewingbar and tertial fringes (Fig. 7;
DNA
nuclearormitochondrial is sampled (Brawn see Figs. 8-9 for comparison with North African
&
et al. 1996), and some authors (e.g. Zink birds).
Barrowclough 2008) have voiced the proposition
that inferences concerning species limits based Acknowledgements
upon mtDNA are potentially unreliable unless Foremost, I thankAndrew Grieve, for permission to
corroborated by nuclear gene data. use some ofhis photographs in this Photospot and
Given that all five forms occurring in the forhiswillingnesstospendalotoftime (muchmore
Canaries areendemicto single, or in two cases two, thanhewouldhaveliked) findingandstudyingBlue
islands, their in-the-field separation should, in the- Tits during our visit to the Canaries inJuly 2006. I
ory, requirelittlemorethantheabilityto remember alsothankHadoramShirihaiforagreeingtosharehis
on which island you are standing. (Instances of images ofthe racedegener, from Lanzarote, takenfor
vagrancy are apparently unknown, for now.) his project, with Hans Jornvall, on the birds ofthe
world. Others who contributed images were Cyril
Leavingasidetheissueofwhetherdegenerreallyisa
Schonbachler, Augusto Faustino and Domingo
synonym of ultramarinus, succinct and accurate
Trujillo Gonzalez. Pete Leonardwas instrumental in
summaries ofthe morphological (andvocal) differ-
sourcing several of the images that appear here.
ences separating the different taxa, other than the
George Sangster kindly forwarded a copy of the
more recently described hedwigii, can be found in
& Dietzen etal. paper.
Gosler Clement (2007) and Clarke (2006), the
latterguidelikelytobethatofchoiceamongstbird- References
e&rsvQiusiitninng t(h1e99is6l)andasn,dasSwnelolwas,&ofPceorurrisnes, (H1a9r9r8a)p. BeckVere,rsPu.chHe.,zTuhmielacnkge,enGo.mm&enWeinistKoenntbrearsgt,veKr.lus1t98i0m.
Nominate teneriffae (Figs. 1-2) is rather obviously Gesang der Blaumeise [Pams caeruleus) auf
different to the other taxa byvirtue ofits lacking a Teneriffa.J. Ornithol. 121: 81-95.
wingbar and any obvious paler fringes to the ter- van den Berg, A. B. 2008. Dutch BirdingBirdNames:
tials, whereas birds onEl Hierro (ombriosus) possess List of Western Palearctic Bird Species 2008.
onlyaveryindistinctgreyish-whitewingbar (onthe Amsterdam: Dutch BirdingAssociation.
greater coverts), butalso showtraces ofgreenish on Brawn, J., Collins,T., Medina, M. & Bermingham, E.
the mantle (Fig. 4), and are slightly larger. Those 1996. Associations between physical isolation and
(Fig. 3) on La Palma (palmensis may also show geographic variation within three species of
(muchless) ofagreenishtonetotheupperpartsbut, Neotropical birds. Mol. Ecol. 5: 33-46.
unlike ombriosus the whiter wingbar, secondary Clarke, T. 2006. Birds oftheAtlantic Islands. London,
,
and tertial fringes, are usually rather obvious, at UK: Christopher Helm.
least in fresh plumage, whilst the underparts are Collinson, M. 2006. Splitting headaches? Recent taxo-
considerably paler, due in particular to the belly nomic changes affecting the British and Western
being more extensivelywhite. Compared to tenerif- Palearcticlists. Br. Birds99: 306-323. &
fae, La Palma birds are overall duller, with a less Dickinson, E. C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard Moore
glossy cap, a broader supercilium and more promi- Complete Checklist ofthe Birds ofthe World. Third
edn. London, UK: Christopher Helm.
nent eyestripe. Dietzen et al. (2007) suggest that &
Dietzen, C., Garcia-del-Rey, E., Delgado Castro, G.
hedwigii (Figs. 3-6) differs only marginally from
Wink, M. 2007. Phylogeography of the blue tit
theprecedingtaxa (especiallyteneriffae), butthatits (Parus teneriffae-gtowp) on the Canary Islands
slightly paler, greyish-tinged upperparts, broader DNA
based on mitochondrial sequence data and
black throat patch, and narrower white nape line
morphometries./ Ornithol. 149: 1-12.
might prove to be consistent differences; they also Fry, C. H. & Keith, S. (eds.) 2000. TheBirdsofAfrica.
provide data on voice and mensural characters. Vol. 6. London, UK: Academic Press.
Finally, degener(or ultramarinus) is, compared to all Fry, C. H., Urban, E. K. & Woodcock, M. 2004. All
of the other taxa on the Canaries, predominantly TheBirdsofAfrica. Bull. ABC11: 59-66.
pale yellow below, with only a small whitish belly- Gill, F. B., Slikas, B. &Sheldon, F. H. 2005. Phylogeny
patch but longblackish ventral line, obviouslypaler oftitmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based
and greyer upperparts, a narrow white supercilium on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b
and narrowerdarknuchal band, aswell asarelative- gent.Auk 122: 121-143.
258-BullABCVol15No2(2008) Photospot:theBlue TitsoftheCanaryIslands
&
Gosler,A. G. Clement, P. 2007. FamilyParidae (tits Schottler, B. 199—3. Canary Islands Blue Tits {Parus
and chickadees). In del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & caeruleuss—sp.) differencesandvariation interrito-
Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook ofthe Birds ofthe rial song preliminary results. Bol. Mus. Mun.
World.Vol. 12. Barcelona: LynxEdicions. FunchalSuppl. 2: 273-277.
Grant, P. R. 1979. Ecological and morphologicalvaria- Schottler, B. 1995. Songs ofBlue Tits Parus c—aeruleus
tion of Canary Island Blue Tits Parus caeruleus palmensis from La Palma (Canary Islands) a test
(Aves: Paridae). Biol.J. Linn. Soc. 11: 103-129. ofhypotheses. Bioacoustics6: 135-152.
Harrap, S. & Quinn, D. 1996. Tits, Nuthatches and Schottler, B. & Martens, J. 1991. Akustische
Treecreepers. London, UK: ChristopherHelm. Differenzierung der Blaumeisen {Parus caeruleus)
&
Kvist, L., Viiri, K., Dias, P. C., Rytkonen, S. Orell, der Kanarischen Inseln. Verb. Deutsch. Zool. Ges.
M. 2004. Glacial history and colonization of 84: 448-449.
EuropebythebluetitParuscaeruleus.J.AvianBiol. Schottler, B. &Martens,J. 1992.Ala—rmrufe kanarisch-
33: 332-339. er Blaumeisen {Parus caeruleus) ein Beitrag zur
&
Kvist, L., Broggi, J., Illera, J. C. Koivula, K. 2005. intraspezifischen Diversitat. Verb. Deutsch. Zool.
Colonisation and diversification of the blue tits Ges. 85: 192.
{Parus caeruleus tenerijfae-group) in the Canary Snow, D.W. &Perrins, C. M. (eds.) 1998. TheBirdsof
&
Islands. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 34: 501-511. the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Oxford:
Martin,J. L. 1991.TheParuscaeruleuscomplexrevisit- Oxford UniversityPress.
ed.Ardea79: 429-438. Vaurie, C. 1957. Systematic notes on Palearctic birds.
&
Salzburger, W., Martens, Sturmbauer, C. 2002. No. 26 Paridae: the Paruscaeruleuscomplex.Amer.
J.
Paraphylyofthe BlueTit {Paruscaeruleus) suggest- Mus. Novit. 1833.
ed from cytochrome b sequences. Mol. Phyl. & Zink, R. M. & Barrowclough, G. F. 2008.
DNA
Evol. 24: 19-25. Mitochondrial under siege in avian phylo-
Sangster, G. 1996.Trends in systematics. Species limits geography. Mol. Ecol. 17: 2107-2121.
in the BlueTit complex: new evidence from play- 74Waddington Street, NorwichNR24JS, UK.
backstudies. DutchBirding18: 85-88.
sarus
Kenya: 19 days covering all the major
habitats, c.700 species with Brian Finch
May 2008: £2790 inc. flights from UK
Tanzania Southern Endemics: 14 days in
the far south, with Ulugurus, Rubehos and
Udzungwas with Callan Cohen and Nigel
Moorhouse.
Sep 2008: £2290 inc. flights from UK
www.sarusbirdtours.co.uk
EastAfrica Special: mega-tour ofKenya,
Eastern Uganda and Northern Tanzania.
900+ species in 30 days with Brian Finch 12 Walton Drive
Feb 2009: £5290 inc. flights from UK Bury
BL9 5JU
Nigeria: 2 week tour for Jos Plateau and UK
Cameroon Forest Specials including Grey-
neckedPicathartes & VermiculatedFishing Tel: [phone]
Owl with Tony Disley Fax: [phone]
Sept 2008: £2690 inc. flights from UK E-mail: [email protected]
Photospot:theBlue Titsofthe CanaryIslands BullABCVol15No2(2008)-259