The Tenerife goldcrest (Regulus regulus teneriffae) is a subspecies of the goldcrest. It closely resembles the continental subspecies, but has a broader black band across the forehead, slightly darker underparts and a longer bill. It breeds in the Canary Islands of Tenerife and La Gomera, where it is a non-migratory resident. It prefers Canary Island Pine forests, but also occurs in laurisilva forests. It is sometimes considered a species in its own right, as Regulus teneriffae.
The populations on La Palma and El Hierro, previously thought to belong to this taxon, are now recognised as, at least, a distinct subspecies, the Western Canary Islands goldcrest R. r. ellenthalerae (Päckert et al., 2006), which evolved from an independent colonisation of the islands.
References Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern Päckert, Martin; Dietzen, Christian; Martens, Jochen; Wink, Michael & Kvist, Laura: Radiation of Atlantic goldcrests Regulus regulus spp.: evidence of a new taxon from the Canary Islands. Journal of Avian Biology 37(4): 364–380. Digital Object Identifier: 10.1111/j.2006.0908-8857.03533.x HTML abstract Electronic Appendices
fr:Roitelet de Teneriffe