Common Firecrest

Photo by sopete
New Forest UK, May2010

Regulus ignicapilla

Includes: Madeira Firecrest

Identification

Length 9 cm, weight 5-7 g

• Red (male) or orange-red (female) crown with black borders
• Gold forehead
• White supercilium
• Black eye-stripe
• Bronzy patch on shoulder
• Bright olive-gree back
• Whitish underparts

ssp. balearica
Photo by IanF
Costa de los Pinos, Mallorca Spain, September 2006

Juvenile similar to adults but without the red crown or black crown border.

Similar Species

Goldcrest lacks the black and white head pattern, and is duller green above, less white below.

Distribution

Patchy and discontinuous range in Europe breeding from Brittany, east across Europe, north to southern England and southern Denmark, to about 30 degrees east in Ukraine.

In the south breeds in the northern half of Iberia and south of Spain, central and southern France, Italy and parts of the Balkans and Greece, and locally around the Black Sea in parts of northern Turkey and the Caucasus.

Also breeds on Madeira, Mallorca, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, and locally in northwest Africa.

Very small numbers breed in Britain, mainly in southern England and the New Forest in particular; elsewhere in Britain a scarce passage migrant, particularly on the east coast.

Northern and eastern populations are migratory wintering in western Europe and around the Mediterranean, birds from remainder of range are largely resident.

Recorded as a vagrant in Finland.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are three to five subspeces^[1][2][3]:

• R. i. ignicapilla:

• England and western Europe to Mediterranean and Asia Minor

• R. i. caucasicus: brighter, with golden neck patch (not considered distinct by some authorities^[1])

• Western Caucasus

• R. i. tauricus: duller and darker (not considered distinct by some authorities^[1])

• Crimea

• R. i. balearica: has greyer plumage

• Balearic Islands and North Africa (Morocco to northern Tunisia)

• R. i. madeirensis: is longer-billed with duller crown stripe and shorter supercilium

• Madeira (eastern Atlantic Ocean). Treated as a separate species Madeira Firecrest Regulus madeirensis by several authorities^[2][3].

Habitat

Breeds in deciduous, mixed and coniferous forest, also evergreen oak and tree-heath around the Mediterranean. Generally lower to the ground that Goldcrest, often in scrub, thickets and swampy areas.

Behaviour

Similar to Goldcrest, but tends to be a little more mobile, moving faster through shrubs and trees when feeding.

Flight

Undulating flight. Often hovers when feeding in the tree canopy.

Diet

The diet consists mainly of small insects and spiders.

Breeding

The nest is suspended under a conifer or other evergreen branch.

Vocalisation

Slightly lower pitched than Goldcrest, with a sharper, more incisive sound to some ears. Song lacks the high, pulsating quality that Goldcrest has.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2014. IOC World Bird Names (version 4.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2006. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553064
4. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition ISBN 0 00 219900 9

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Common Firecrest. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Firecrest

External Links

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