CreatureData

African blue tit

Cyanistes teneriffae (R. P. Lesson, 1831)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae) is a bird in the family Paridae, placed with the songbirds and other perching birds. It is an omnivore that lives in forest, is sedentary and is classed as small, with adults typically about 10 g.

African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae)
Photo: Philippe Guillaume · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the African blue tit

The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

Weight
10 g – 11.6 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
13.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
14.6 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
13.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
8src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Reproduction
Eggssrc for Reproduction
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the African blue tit live?

Not recorded

What is the African blue tit?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae) is a species of bird in the family Paridae. It is found in northern Africa, Pantelleria (Italy) and the Canary Islands (Spain). 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.

From the Wikipedia article “African blue tit” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_blue_tit&oldid=1379926812), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the African blue tit endangered?

The African blue tit is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the African blue tit classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyParidae
  6. genusCyanistes
  7. SpeciesCyanistes teneriffae (R. P. Lesson, 1831)

Synonyms Cyanestes teneriffae teneriffae, Cyanistes caeruleus teneriffae, Parus caeruleus teneriffae, Parus teneriffae

Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • ABTIEnglish
  • Afro-Canarian blue titEnglish
  • Afrocanarian blue titEnglish
  • Canary Islands blue titEnglish
  • Ultramarine titEnglish
  • قرقف أزرق إفريقيArabic
  • Канарски син синигерBulgarian
  • mallerenga africanaCatalan
  • Mallerenga blava africanaCatalan
  • sýkora modráCzech
  • Mørk BlåmejseDanish
  • Kanarisk BlåmejseDanish
  • KanarenmeiseGerman
  • Kanaria paruoEsperanto
  • nordafrika paruoEsperanto
  • Herrerillo canarioSpanish
  • Herrerillo AfricanoSpanish
  • kanaari sinitihaneEstonian
  • afrikansinitiainenFinnish
  • Mésange de TénériffeFrench
  • Mésange nord-africaineFrench
  • Meantán gorm CanárachIrish
  • Ferreiriño africanoGalician
  • ירגזי כחול אפריקניHebrew
  • sjevernoafrička sjenicaCroatian
  • afrikai kékcinegeHungarian
  • Cinciarella africanaItalian
  • Cinciarella algerinaItalian
  • Cinciarella delle CanarieItalian
  • テネリフェアオガラJapanese
  • kanarinė mėlynoji zylėLithuanian
  • Kanāriju zilzīlīteLatvian
  • TenerifepimpelmeesDutch
  • Afrikaanse PimpelmeesDutch
  • kalottmeisNorwegian
  • modraszka kanaryjskaPolish
  • chapim-magrebinoPortuguese
  • chapim-azul-africanoPortuguese
  • Африканская лазоревкаRussian
  • GahpergaccetNorthern Sami
  • sýkorka modrokrídlaSlovak
  • Afrička plava senicaSerbian
  • koboltmesSwedish
  • Afrika BaştankarasıTurkish
  • синиця канарськаUkrainian
  • 非洲藍山雀Chinese
  • 非洲青山雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the African blue tit

Other species in the same genus Cyanistes.

LC, Least Concern
Azure tit (Cyanistes cyanus)

Azure tit

Cyanistes cyanus

Paridae

CompareAfrican blue tit vs Eurasian blue titAfrican blue tit vs Azure titAfrican blue tit vs Azure tit x blue tit

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What is the scientific name of the African blue tit?

The African blue tit is Cyanistes teneriffae, with the authority (R. P. Lesson, 1831). It belongs to the family Paridae.

How much does an African blue tit weigh?

Adults typically weigh about 10 g, and the highest value reported by our sources is 11.6 g. It is classed as small.

What does the African blue tit eat?

It is an omnivore, and its trophic level is also listed as omnivore.

Is the African blue tit endangered?

No. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

How long does an African blue tit live?

Its lifespan is typically about 13 years, with a highest recorded value of up to 15 years.

How many eggs does an African blue tit lay?

A clutch has 8 eggs, with 1 or 2 clutches per year. Incubation takes 14 days.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-blue-tit

MLA

“African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-blue-tit.

BibTeX
@misc{african_blue_tit_2026,
  title = {African blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-blue-tit},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}