Goldcrest
- Once known as the golden-crested wren, the goldcrest is not only Britain’s smallest bird, but the smallest in the western Palearctic.
- The average weight is around 5-6g; a wren weighs 7-12g.
- Goldcrests are widespread throughout much of Europe, but in southern Europe are largely replaced by the similar firecrest.
- The goldcrest’s world range includes the Himalayas and Japan.
- Despite their tiny size, goldcrests are highly migratory, with a large influx of birds from the Scandinavia and the near-Continent arriving on the east coast of Britain every autumn.
- Immigrants arrive in Britain from late August through to early November, departing the following March and April.
- Early ornithologists didn’t believe a bird as tiny as a goldcrest could fly across the North Sea unaided, and it was thought that they rode on the backs of migratory woodcock or short-eared owls.
- The old country name of woodcock pilot comes from this belief.
- Exhausted migrants are typically unafraid of humans, and some will even land on people.
- Large falls of migrants sometimes occur. One, on the Isle of May in October 1982, numbered at least 15,000 birds.
- It is thought that in contrast to their Continental cousins, goldcrests that nest in Britain are sedentary, seldom moving far from where they hatched.
- Because of their tiny size, they are rarely found dead; most ringed birds recovered have been killed by cats.
- They are almost exclusively insectivorous, with spiders forming an important part of the diet.
- They generally feed towards the tip of tree branches or in tree crowns, typically hovering in front of spiders’ webs.
- The male’s surprising loud but high-frequency song frequently reveals his presence. The song can be heard from late winter until well into the summer.
- Many people of senior years find the song impossible to hear.
- The nest is a spherical cup made of lichens, cobwebs, moss and hair, usually suspended in twigs near the end of a conifer branch.
- A typical clutch is 9-11 eggs that take 16 days to incubate.
- Most pairs will try and rear two overlapping broods each spring, with the female starting the second clutch before her first brood have fledged.
- The male assumes responsibly for feeding the first brood as soon as his mate starts to incubate the second clutch.
- The goldcrest has a North American equivalent, the ruby-crowned kinglet. Though similar in size and habits it’s not as brightly coloured.
