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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Goldcrests are one of the smallest European bird species. Details of
their plumage
depend on race.
Their most prominent feature is their crest, with two longitudinal
black stripes on the sides of the crown, which is orange in
males
and yellow in
females.
They have incomplete white eye-rings and otherwise grey sides
of the head, with an olive-grey patch behind each eye. The
front is greyish-buff, while the back is more olive-grey.
The mostly olive-grey wings have prominent white bars and
also white tips on the ends of the flight feathers. The
body is rotund; the olive-grey tail is slightly forked.
The irises are dark; the bill is dark-grey and the legs
are yellowish-grey.
Juveniles
have a horn-coloured bill and a plain, grey head
without any crest markings for the first few weeks.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Goldcrest
at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Goldcrest is available
HERE
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Goldcrests are a partly migratory Eurasian species with many
different races.
In continental Eurasia there are 9 different races, and there
are another 5 on various Atlantic islands.
Altogether, their distribution ranges from the eastern Atlantic
islands off North-west Africa, via most of Europe and parts of
Asia Minor, into mid-latitude Asia, as far as Japan. For more
details see e.g.
Wikipedia .
They are partly migratory, with the northern parts of their
range as summer breeding areas and most southern locations
as winter quarters.
In most of mid-latitude Europe and parts of central Asia they
are permanent residents, while the far-eastern races, in eastern
China and Japan, are purely migratory.
In Europe, Goldcrests, race
"regulus",
are permanent residents in mid-latitude regions, from Iceland
via the British Isles and central Europe to southern
Scandinavia and eastern Europe. In central Scandinavia
and north-eastern Europe they are found as summer breeding
visitors, while in most of the Mediterranean countries,
south-eastern Europe and around the Black Sea they are found
only as winter visitors. Only in (relatively) high-altitude
regions within those southern parts of their range they can
also be permanent residents (parts of central Spain, parts
of the central Italian mountain range and parts of the Balkans).
Goldcrests are NOT found in high-latitude and high-altitude
central Scandinavia.
Goldcrests have a preference for mature conifer woodland
and forest especially for nesting, but also during the rest
of the year. Because of their special metabolism, they can be
found up to high altitudes, often up to 3000 m, occasionally
even up to 4800 m.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "regulus"
D. Wilczynska reports spotting Goldcrests, race
"regulus",
in Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, in October 2016. Another
was spotted at the same location in October 2020.
S. Cuturilov reports that a Goldcrest, race
"regulus",
was caught, ringed and released at Vlasina Lake, Serbia, in October 2019.
J. Pires spotted Goldcrests, race
"regulus",
at the Castelhana, the Raia river and at the Montargil Dam, in or near
Mora, Evora, Portugal, in September-November 2020.
G. Normand found a Goldcrest, race
"regulus",
at Pere Lachaise cemetery, 20th district, Paris, France, in January
2021.
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