Goldcrest - a photo on Flickriver

Goldcrest

            It never ceases to amaze me that such a tiny bird can survive sub zero temperatures.  Weighing just 5 or 6g, Goldcrest competes with its close cousin Firecrest as the smallest British bird.  But being small means it has difficulty keeping warm (because it has a large surface area to volume ratio).  In really bad winters  the population crashes but Goldcrests can bounce back by laying up to 12 eggs, though 6-8 is more typical.  A clutch this size can exceed her bodyweight, but she produces just one every day or two, and does not start incubating until she has a full clutch. She even uses her hot legs to help incubate such a large clutch.   It is quite a common breeding bird in Britain with more than half a million pairs but many more arrive here for the winter escaping the cold Scandinavian winter.  Its scientific name is Regulus regulus, which translates as little king, or kinglet as they are called in America.  This obviously refers to the golden crown which is visible here.  Its English name Goldcrest took a bit of getting to.  It was first named Golden-crowned Wren by John Ray in 1678.  Ninety years later in 1768 Thomas Pennant coined Golden-crested Wren which persisted for well over a hundred years, though many naturalists were unhappy with the "Wren" part of the name as it wasn't a Wren.  Some authors used its scientific name or even its translation (Kinglet) that is used in America.  For example William Yarrell in 1843 called it "Little Golden-crested Regulus , or Kinglet".  But throughout the nineteenth century it was generally known as Golden-crested Wren, but that tended to be shortened to Goldcrest.  This became so well-used that the name stuck and is now adopted.

I photographed this one during a recent walk from home as it fed in a snowy Scot's Pine.  This one is a male as you can see a splash of orange in his yellow crown.  Females have a pure yellow crown stripe though the orange is often very difficult to see.

Taken on: January 15, 2021

Tags:

Regulus regulus

Regulus

West

Yorkshire

Tim Melling « less

Sets appears in: • British Birds

Groups appears in: • Goldcrests and Firecrests

Stats: 6,359 views / 30 comments

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