Spain 17: Choughs

Red-Billed Chough, Ireland

Across Eurasia can be found two species of distinctive crows that are distinguished by the colour of their beaks, the Red-Billed and Alpine (or Yellow-Billed) Choughs. They are associated with short grass and rocky areas, especially mountains. Red-Billed Choughs Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax also use sea cliffs while Alpine P. graculus is only found in high mountains. They are rather distinctive crows and in some ways their ecology is similar to some starlings, although starlings are on a completely different branch of the passerine family tree.

Quest for the Wild Canary 15: Conclusion - The Fortunate Islands?

Guanche Sanctuary, La Gomera

The human history of the islands is as complex, and in many ways as tragic, as the fate of its wildlife. The exact time when people first reached the islands is not clear, but seems to have been around 800 BC. From DNA analysis of ancient remains the population seems to have been related to the Berber people of North Africa. The date of colonisation is suspiciously close to the time when Phoenicians, originally from Tyre, were establishing colonies along the North African coast, of which the most famous was the arch-rival of Rome, Carthage. The Phoenicians were great navigors, whereas the locals seem to have been inland pastoralists, and although there were numerous conflicts with the incomers eventually a mixed Berber-Punic culture emerged. Presumably at some point around this time people reached and settled the islands, which are around 100km from the mainland at the closest point.

Quest for the Wild Canary 14: Canaries and other finches

 

Atlantic Canary

The canary is actually named for the Canary Islands, rather than the other way around as you might think. The name originates from the Latin name for the islands – Canariae Insulae “Island of Dogs” – a name allegedly given to one of the islands by the Mauretanian king Juba II as a result of the many large dogs found there, although it is possible that the ‘dogs’ were Monk Seals.

Quest for the Wild Canary 13: Warblers and others

Canary Island Chiffchaff

By now it will not surprise readers that there are numerous endemic taxa of warblers on the islands, but at least today there is only one classed as a full species, the Canary Chiffchaff Phylloscopus canariensis. We saw many of these on Tenerife, including in the middle of town, so any birders taking their families on a beach holiday should keep an eye out for it. They breed on the central and western islands, but a separate subspecies, P.canariensis exsul, was formerly found on Lanzarote (and possibly Fuerteventura) but is now extinct. Other Phylloscopus warblers on the islands are only passage migrants for the most part, but we were also lucky enough to see at least two wintering Yellow-Browed Warblers, P. inornatus. Yellow-Browed Warblers have increasingly wintered in western Europe (including even the UK) in recent years, but they do not breed closer than the Urals.

 

Quest for the Wild Canary 12: Pipits, Wagtails, Thrushes and Chats

A.berthelotti

There is a wide range of endemic or near-endemic species and subspecies of insectivorous passerines on the Canaries, which reflects the complicated ecological history of the islands. As the only breeding pipit in the region, Berthelot’s Pipit Anthus berthelotti is found on the Canaries, Madeira, and some nearby smaller islands. I found it very confiding – the photo at the top of this post was taken from only a few feet away as it hopped around our feet in a car park on Fuerteventura. As with almost all pipits’ it is a ground nesting bird, which must make it vulnerable to feral cats, but despite this the species is doing well in its range, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Quest for the Wild Canary 11: Larger Passerines

Common Raven

There is a wide variety of endemic or near-endemic passerines on the Canaries, but the most prominent large bird to be seen is the very widespread Common Raven. This is of a different race to the form found in Britain, and is classified as Corvus corax tingitanus, which is the same subspecies as is found across North Africa, and has a higher pitched call than the nominate subspecies. As a generalist and adaptable feeder, it must be a major nest predator of all species both native and introduced, and no doubt also feeds at rubbish tips or anywhere else food can be found. The one I photographed here was hanging around a coach stop on Fuerteventura and was obviously used to being fed by tourists.

Quest for the wild canary 10: Other non-passerines

Laurel Pigeon

Of the remaining non-passerines to be covered, the most important are the pigeons. Six species breed on the islands, of which two are endemic. We managed to see the two endemic pigeons, Laurel Pigeon Columba junoniae and Bolle’s Pigeon C.bolii, on La Gomera, after some searching in the laurasilva forest.

Quest for the wild Canary 9: Raptors and owls

F.tinnunculus canariensis

There is a reasonable diverse set of raptors in the islands, both residents and visitors, but there are no endemic species (at least today). There are however many endemic subspecies which are slightly different to the mainland forms found nearby in Europe and North Africa, some restricted to only a few islands and others also found on other islands in Macaronesia.

Quest for the Wild Canary 8: Houbara Bustard and Waders

Female Houbara Bustard, Fuerteventura

One of the key target species of any birding trip to the eastern Canary islands is the local race of Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata fuerteventurae. With a total estimated population of around 500 individuals, possibly less, it is also one of the most endangered bird taxa on the islands, and indeed the world. In truth, the division between the island birds and those on the mainland, nominate undulata, is slight – mainland birds are slightly larger and paler. More significant is the split between the birds in North Africa and those in western Asia – these have now been split as McQueens Bustard on the basis of different courtship  displays. As February is the start of the breeding season, seeing the amazing courtship display of the male was a key goal, and we were fortunate enough to see several displaying males on our trip.

Quest for the Wild Canary 7: Seabirds

Cory's Shearwater

Oceanic islands are often famous for their seabird colonies, at least until introduced predators wipe them out, and before the arrival of humans the Canaries were surely no exception. Today almost all of the remaining breeding birds nest on offshore islands or inaccessible cliffs, but in the past they would certainly bred extensively on the mainland, especially as the islands had basically nothing that would prey on seabird chicks, not even the land crabs that are widespread in the tropics.  The only real limit would have been availability of food within reach of the nesting colonies.

Quest for the Wild Canary 6: Waterbirds and Gamebirds

Ruddy Shelduck - Fuerteventura

With the lack of natural bodies of water on the islands, almost all the waterfowl we saw on the islands were associated with man-made reservoirs. The most numerous duck was Ruddy Shelduck, Tadorna ferruginea. Unlike the Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna, which is widespread around the coasts of the UK, Ruddy Shelducks are mainly continental birds, with the bulk of the population ranging from the eastern Mediterranean across to south east Asia, which makes the Canary population the westernmost in the range.

Quest for the Wild Canary Part 5: Mammals

Barbary Ground Squirrel (Fuerteventura)

Volcanic islands far from the mainland often have no native terrestrial mammals aside from bats, but the Canaries prior to the arrival of humans had several native terrestrial mammals, and were also almost certainly a breeding site for the Mediterranean Monk Seal, a few of which still breed on the North African coast.  

Quest for the Wild Canary Part 4: Reptiles and Amphibians

Tenerife Lizard

Reptiles of various species are usually good at colonising islands, and the Canaries are home to a diverse range of endemic lizards. There are no native snakes, and at present no native land tortoises, although fossil; ones are known. It is probable that in the past various species of sea turtles also nested, but today they are only seen at sea. The most common of these is the Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta, which also breeds in the Mediterranean. There are even a few reports of Leatherback Turtles beaching on some of the eastern islands, but no proof of nesting or nesting attempts.

Quest for the Wild Canary Part 3: Insects

Canary Speckled Wood - Tenerife

With the huge variety of endemic plants and habitats on the various islands, it is not surprising that there is an even greater variety of endemic insects. On my trip the weather was not usually sunny enough to bring out a large variety of butterflies and dragonflies, but we still managed to see five species of dragonfly and eight species of butterfly.

Quest for the Wild Canary Part 2: Plants and habitats

Tricholaena sp, Teneriffe

The Canaries are famous for their flowers, and although as our visit was in February there was not a great number in bloom, the endemic plants are of great interest to botanists. One might expect the plants to be the same as you would find in Spain or North Africa, but when the islands first appeared above the sea the Mediterranean did not yet exist. Instead, the western end of the ancient Tethys Ocean still separated Africa and Eurasia, and the Atlantic was much narrower. The native flora of the islands, or at least the oldest elements of it, trace their origin to the vegetation that once grew on the northern and southern shores of the Tethys, which has since been obliterated by the northward movement of Africa and India.

Map of Miocene Europe as the Tethys was closing

Quest for the wild canary - part 1: Landscape and geography

Mt Teide, Teneriffe - inside the caldera

The canary is such a common cage bird that I expect hardly anyone ever thinks about where they come from, and I very much doubt that the word “canary” conjures up images of large explosions or the possible devastation of much of the seaboard of the east coast of the United States. However, I hope that by the time these posts are finished, you might have a better picture of the back story of one of the commonest cage birds in the world.