Suárez et al. (2009) found, in a genetic analysis of chaffinches Fringilla coelebs in the Canary Islands that at least three subspecies are present there: F. c. palmae occurs on La Palma in the western Canary Archipelago, F. c. canariensis on La Gomera and Tenerife. The form on El Hierro is F. c. ombriosa, and a fourth, hitherto undescribed taxon previously assigned to F. c. canariensis, on Gran Canaria.[2] Other Macaronesian subspecies occur in the Azores (F. c. moreletti) and on Madeira (F. c. maderensis).
Suárez, Nicolás M.; Betancor, Eva; Klassert, Tilman E.; Almeida, Teresa; Hernández, Mariano; Pestano, José J. (November 2009). "Phylogeography and genetic structure of the Canarian common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) inferred with mtDNA and microsatellite loci". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 53 (2): 556–564. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.018. PMID19632343.