Editing European robin (section)

==== Canary Islands robins ====
[[File:Erithacus rubecula superbus, Los Silos, Tenerife 1.jpg|left|thumb|Tenerife robin ''Erithacus rubecula superbus'', Los Silos, Tenerife]]
[[File:Erithacus rubecula -Canary Islands, Spain -adult and juvenile-8.jpg|thumb|Adult and juvenile Gran Canaria robins]]

The most distinct birds are those of [[Gran Canaria]]  (''E. r. marionae'') and [[Tenerife]] (''E. r. superbus''), which may be considered two distinct species or at least two different subspecies. They are readily distinguished by a white eye-ring, an intensely coloured breast, a grey line that separates the orange-red from the brown colouration, and the belly is entirely white.<ref>{{Cite book |editor=Cramp, S. |year=1988 |title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. |volume=V. Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-857508-5}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

Cytochrome ''b'' sequence data and vocalisations<ref name=Bergmann>{{cite journal |last1=Bergmann |first1=H.H. |last2=Schottler |first2=B. |year=2001 |title=Tenerife robin ''Erithacus (rubecula) superbus'' – a species of its own? |journal=[[Dutch Birding]] |volume=23 |pages=140–146}}</ref> indicate that the Gran Canaria/Tenerife robins are indeed very distinct and probably derived from colonisation by mainland birds some 2&nbsp;million years ago.{{efn|
Although Dietzen ''et al.'' (2003)<ref name=Dietzen/> conclude that both the Tenerife and Gran Canaria populations are independently derived from mainland populations and should constitute two species or both be placed in ''E. rubecula'' as subspecies, their data does not allow for a definite conclusion. The alternative explanation – that Tenerife was colonised by already-distinct Gran Canaria robins – has not been explored and the proposed model relies only on probabilistic inference. Likewise, the seemingly exact molecular dating is doubtful as it assumes a [[molecular clock]] that may or may not be correct, and of course the assumption that the ancestor of all robins was similar in colouration to ''superbus'' and not the continental birds is, being inferred from their model of colonisation, entirely conjectural.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
}}

Christian Dietzen, Hans-Hinrich Witt and Michael Wink published in 2003 in ''Avian Science'' a study called "The phylogeographic differentiation of the European robin ''Erithacus rubecula'' on the Canary Islands revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data and morphometrics: evidence for a new robin taxon on Gran Canaria?".<ref name=Dietzen/> In it they concluded that Gran Canaria's robin diverged genetically from their European relatives as far back as 2.3&nbsp;million years, while the Tenerife ones took another half a million years to make this leap, 1.8&nbsp;million years ago. The most likely reason would be a different colonisation of the Canaries by this bird, which arrived at the oldest island first (Gran Canaria) and subsequently passed to the neighbouring island (Tenerife).<ref name="canarias7.es">{{cite news |first1=César-Javier |last1=Palacios |year=2006 |title=Hallazgo en Gran Canaria de una especie de petirrojo única en el mundo |lang=es |trans-title=Discovery in Gran Canaria of a species of robin unique in the world |newspaper=Newspaper Canarias 7 |url=http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=36465 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307001055/http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=36465 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |access-date=24 February 2015}}</ref>

A thorough comparison between ''E. r. marionae'' and ''E. r. superbus'' is pending to confirm that the first one is effectively a different subspecies. Initial results suggest that birds from Gran Canaria have wings about 10% shorter than those on Tenerife.<ref name=Dietzen/> The west Canary Islands' populations are younger ([[Middle Pleistocene]]) and only beginning to diverge genetically. Robins from the western [[Canary Islands]] on El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera (''E. r. microrhynchus'') are more similar to the European type subspecies (''E. r. rubecula'').<ref name=Lack46/>

Finally, the robins which can be found on [[Fuerteventura]] are the European subspecies, which is not surprising as the species does not breed either in this island or on nearby [[Lanzarote]]; they are wintering birds or just on passage during their migration between Africa and Europe.<ref name="canarias7.es"/>