The Goldcrest and Firecrest are similar in size and appearance and can cause difficulties in making a positive ID. In this identification guide, we explore the differences between both birds.
Family: Regulidae
Goldcrest
The Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is Europe’s smallest bird and only weighs up to 6 grams. However, they punch well above their weight with their vocal capability.
You will often hear the Goldcrest’s distinctive call long before you see the bird, this is especially the case since they also spend a lot of their time high in the tree canopy gleaning insects from the branches.
Call & Song
Their call is high-pitched consisting of repeating phrases.
Goldcrest Call:
Lars Edenius, xeno-canto.org
Their song has a more undulating quality but is also distinctively high-pitched.
Habitat
Goldcrests favor coniferous environments, albeit you will occasionally see them; particularly in broadleaf, scrub, and human-inhabited areas. They can be found across the European Continent with populations tending to be resident except for Goldcrests in more northerly locations migrate during the winter months. From a UK standpoint, they can be found across the entirety of the British Isles throughout the year. In winter they are known to form mixed flocks of birds scouring for food, especially with smaller bird species such as tits.
Appearance
The Goldcrest has olive-green plumage. They are quite rotund little birds compared to the Firecrest which looks much more streamlined.
As its name suggests, the Goldcrest features a yellow patch on its crown. Males sometimes have a bright red-orange center to their crown. The crown on both males and females is bordered with black. A differentiating feature is that the Goldcrest features a pale patch around the eye.
Firecrest
The Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla) is slightly larger than the Goldcrest, though only just, so this isn’t a reliable way to try and differentiate the two birds.
The Firecrest will often be spotted foraging for food low in the tree canopy and near the ground.
Call & Song
The Firecrest call is less piercing than the Goldcrest. It has a softer more pleasing tone to it.
Goldcrest Song:
FRIEDRICH Richard, xeno-canto.org
Likewise, its song comes across as less confident than the Goldcrest and consists of single notes followed by a short burst of embellishments.
Goldcrest Song:
Bodo Sonnenburg, xeno-canto.org
Habitat
The Firecrest range seems to favor warmer climates than the Goldcrest. They can be found across the south-western of the European Continent, and from a UK standpoint, their breeding range only extends across the south of the British Isles, although wintering birds do extend further North as populations are bolstered with Firecrest from the European continent. Like the Goldcrest, the Firecrest also favors coniferous forests, but will also visit broadleaf environments and human-inhabited areas.
Appearance
As mentioned, their bodies are slimmer and more streamlined than the Goldcrest. They also have olive-green plumage, but their upper parts are more vibrant green, with a chestnut-colored patch on the shoulder.
The Firecrest also features a crown but it is vibrant orange as opposed to the Goldcrest yellow crown. Like the Goldcrest, the Firecrest crown can also feature a red-orange center, particularly in males. The crown is also framed in black. Rather than an eye patch, the Firecrest features a distinctive black stripe running across its eye, with a white stripe just above it. So this forms one of the most definitive ways to positively ID the bird.
References
- Elder, Charlie. The Everyday Guide to British Birds : Identify Our Common Species and Learn More about Their Lives, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 21/04/2025]
