Goldcrest

You are most likely to hear Goldcrests in the Cypress trees in the cemetery, as attested to in the photograph here.
Dedicated to: 
Mary Elizabeth White 15.11.1930 - 22.07.2018 you taught me the bird names and inspired me to love and respect all nature.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Regulus regulus
Family: 
Kinglets and Firecrests
Family Latin name: 
REGULIDAE
Category: 
Birds
Vernacular names: 

Woodcock Pilot

Species description

Species description

The Goldcrest is one of Europe’s two smallest birds. (The other is the Firecrest.) Its greenish upper-parts and paler under-parts are not particularly remarkable, but its golden crest feathers are, and they resemble a golden crown. This explains why it’s called “the king of the birds” in European folklore. It also explains the scientific name, meaning king or knight, and the unusual family name of “kinglet”. (Firecrests are roughly the same size as the Goldcrest but with clear eye-stripes, and whiter underparts. Small they may be, but regal they have become! Male Goldcrests have orange crowns, females yellow (the same applies to the Firecrest). Their song is a series of high, reedy notes. You are most likely to hear these coming from the Cypress trees in the cemetery, as attested to in the photograph here. Older people are often not able to hear these soft, high-pitched calls.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
You are most likely to hear Goldcrests in the Cypress trees in the cemetery, as attested to in the photograph here.
This Goldcrest is about to be released, having been ringed in Heene Cemetery on March 15th 2021.

Details

Species family information

The kinglet family, in Britain, consists of just two species, the Goldcrest and the Firecrest, though the Ruby-crowned Kinglet from North America was recorded in Scotland in 2020. These birds typically feed on insects high in conifers, their needle-like bills being ideally suited for this. Goldcrests, tiny as they are, regularly migrate from Scandinavia to the UK for the winter. Others are resident in Britain. Firecrests have a more southerly distribution in Europe but undergo similarly varied movements, with different populations visiting Britain to breed, for the winter and on passage. Their tiny size means that their rapid metabolism requires them to constantly forage. It has been shown that kinglets may lose a third of their body weight after just twenty minutes if prevented from feeding; in an hour, they may starve to death. This means they must be handled with extra care during ringing operations.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.