Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
Facts & Figures:
Population in 1970: 1,500,000
Population in 2019: 790,000
Change in Population: -710,000
Percentage change: -52%
Length: 9 cm
Oldest: 7 years
Eggs: 6-8
Broods: 1-2
Goldcrests, along with the closely-related Firecrests, are the smallest birds found in the UK. They are a dull green above and are off white underneath. They have a noticeable white wing stripe, when they are observed at rest, which doesn’t happen too often. The Goldcrest always seems to be on the move as it searches for tiny insects and spiders. It has to eat a large proportion of its weight each day just to survive.
At most times Goldcrests have a noticeable yellow stripe in the centre of their head, which has a black stripe on either side. However, when the male bird gets excited, or agitated it spreads open its crown feathers displaying an orange centre. The female’s spread crown feathers remain yellow.
Male Goldcrest
The eighteenth-century naturalist, Gilbert White, referred to them as the Golden-crested Wren, but the name has been shortened over time. However, a local name for them on the East coast used to be the Woodcock’s Pilot. They tend to arrive round the same time in Autumn as the much larger Woodcock, and it was believed that they showed them the way. There were even some who thought these tiny birds wouldn’t be able to cross the North Sea under their own volition, but would have to hitch a lift on a Woodcock!
Goldcrests eat insects and small spiders, and only in really cold weather will try and take small seeds or will peck at fat balls on garden feeders. They were really badly affected by the bad winters of 1916-18, 1946-7, and 1962-3, and it was even considered that they wouldn’t recover after some of those winters, but they always managed to bounce back after even the worst winter weather. In fact Goldcrests are probably doing better now than they have done for many years. A lot more conifer plantations were planted after WW2, and they are probably also benefiting from more ornamental conifers planted in garden to give some all year round colour.
Goldcrests have a very high-pitched call and song. When they arrive on the East coast in October sometimes in enormous numbers known as “falls” their “see-see-see” contact call seem to be emanating from every bush or shrub. If you are in a group of people who can hear this call, but if one person can’t hear it can be a first sign of deteriorating hearing in the higher registers. The song is likewise quite difficult to hear. It is a very fast warble and appears to roughly say: “cicely, cicely, cicely”, but has more accurately been rendered as: “cedar-cedar-cedar-cedar stitch-i-pee-so.”
Goldcrest Fledgling
Goldcrests are most closely associated with coniferous woodland, but they can occasionally be seen in thick hawthorn bushes well away from conifers, and when conifers are absent they like to search tree-climbing ivy for food hidden between the ivy vines and the tree bark. They also make their nest in a conifer, and this consists of a hammock-like structure with handles made from moss, feathers and spiders’ webs. The female lays between 6 and 8 eggs, and if they have a second brood it will be the males’ task to feed the offspring of the first brood, while the female is sat brooding the second clutch. When the breeding season is over the association with conifers is less strong, so they can also be seen on heathland and in deciduous woodland.
I saw my first Goldcrest on 30 March 1973 at the old gate to the entrance to Spurn Point, but now they are almost daily visitors to the garden. Although there are different water receptacles in the garden they almost invariably prefer the one surrounded by a Yew Tree to which they either have a drink or bath. My clients encounter them at Ness End, Tophill Low, but they always enjoy seeing them every winter in East Park in Hull. However, the most memorable encounters have been after a large fall or influx at Spurn, when there seem to be hundreds hopping about on any available green surface as well as filling all the nearby bushes. This took a more macabre turn one year when they arrived at the same time as a number of Great Grey Shrikes. One chap we met swore one particular Shrike he was watching caught and hung up 6 Goldcrests per hour in its hawthorn bush larder!
Male Goldcrest at Spurn, shortly after a bath
My video made this morning with a Goldcrest singing behind the church is available here
The RSPB page, which includes an audio file may be accessed here
