Goldcrest

Regulus regulus

The goldcrest is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colourful golden crest feathers, as well as being called the "king of the birds" in European folklore, gives rise to its English and scientific names. The scientific name, R. regulus, means 'petty king' or prince. Several subspecies are recognised across the very large distribution range that includes much of the Palearctic and the islands of Macaronesia and Iceland. Birds from the north and east of its breeding range migrate to winter further south. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 1,719,393 times across 65 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 20°C (typically 16 to 24°C, from 21 areas).

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 51°N in November to 61°N in September, about 1,100 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.