Though he might be the United Kingdoms’ smallest bird, with his fiery crest, he is also widely known as the “King of the Birds.”

PH๏τo Courtesy of Andrey Gulivanov / CC BY 2.0

The goldcrest (Regulus regulus), is a very small pᴀsserine bird in the kinglet family. Not only Britains smallest bird, but it is also Europe’s smallest bird, being just 3.3-3.7 inches in length. Having olive-green upperparts with white underparts, the goldcrest has two white wing bars. The crown of the head has black sides and a narrow black front finished off with a bright yellow-orange crest on the male. The bill is black, and the legs a dark brown.

PH๏τo (cropped) Courtesy of Andrey Gulivanov / CC BY 2.0

Apart from the crest color, the females being yellow, the Sєxes are pretty much alike.

Juveniles are similar to adults but tend to have duller upperparts and lack a colored crown.

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Several subspecies are recognized across quite a large area, including most of the Palearctic and the islands of Micronesia and Iceland.

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These birds like to live and breed in conifer and mixed wooded areas. Outside the breeding season, it also likes to live in scrub and in deciduous trees.

PH๏τo Courtesy of Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Goldcrest feed on small insects and spiders found in trees. During wintertime, it likes to feed on seeds and insects found on the ground. Young of this species grow quickly due to a rich diet of insect larvae and small spiders.

PH๏τo Courtesy of Andrey Gulivanov / CC BY 2.0

During the breeding season, the female builds a compact, three-layered nest on the branch of a tree. Cup-shaped, the nest is built with cobwebs, moss, and twigs. The interior is lined with feathers and hair, into which, around 10-12 eggs are laid, which she incubates for 15 days. She continues to brood the chicks one hatched, however, the male ᴀssists with feeding.

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Despite a recent population decline this species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range for size criteria as it has an extremely large range.

PH๏τo Courtesy of Jo Garʙuтт / CC BY 2.0