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Firecrest

Pennina
12/05/2019 08:51

Hi everyone,

Newbie here, bird lover of course. I have two centres of life where I’m privileged to see a wide variety of birds.  We live very close to a lake which is teaming with wonderful birds.   However, of interest  to me at the moment is something that I’ve seen at our stables in Hertfordshire.  

 It is very rural, in the middle of farmland and a wide variety of trees and hedges and natural areas .  We have a small bank of trees  on the stable yard that comprise mainly firs and the plants on the bank are wild - nettles and whatever seasonal weeds/flowers pop up.  We have always had goldcrests living in these quite dense trees.   However on Friday while sitting quietly eating my lunch I saw two birds sweeping in and out of the nettles and back to a tree that I really think were Firecrests.  They were a similar size to a Goldcrest and making the same See see see call, but the top of both of their heads was a large bright orange stripe -   Very bright orange - nothing like the more narrow yellow stripe of a goldcrest.   They came out of the tree twice so I had a couple of opportunities to see them -  I was only about a metre and a half away.

 Having had a little Google I understand that they are quite rare so I’m feeling quite excited about this!   Next time I am there on my own I will sit quietly and try and get photos but they do move so fast.  

Would love to hear from anyone who has better knowledge than me about them .

best 

Hh

  • 12/05/2019 09:19

    Hello Pennina and welcome to the community. How lovely for you to have the little Goldcrests and what does sound like the Firecrests, I think once I had a very quick fleeting glance of a Goldcrest. Photos would be great. Someone will be around to give you the statistics etc. Your place sounds nice. Enjoy being here.

  • 12/05/2019 10:47

    Hi Pennina,

    I hope they are Firecrests. I'm no expert on them but as you say they are pretty scarce. According to the RSPB information there are only about 550 breeding territories. They are more commonly seen in the winter and/or on passage. Apart from the crest the main distinguishing feature is the facial pattern including a bold white stripe above they eye. Good luck and I hope you see them again and can get a photo.

  • 12/05/2019 16:41

    I didn't want to dampen your hopes but I had the same thought as Robbo. Goldcrests will flare their crests when they are trying to intimidate a rival or in this case me.

    You never know though, you could be lucky.

  • 12/05/2019 21:53
    I found this, it may help.

    Which is smaller Goldcrest or Firecrest?

    The main differences between goldcrest and firecrest are that the firecrest has a white supercilium (a fancy way of saying it has a bold white patch above its eyes!) and a snazzy black stripe through each eye. The females both have yellow heads but the male have orange on them as well.
  • 15/05/2019 16:03
    When I saw my first firecrest I was quite bowled over. My instant impression was of a goldcrest wearing clown makeup. The white supercilium is so striking that you could probably pick it out from a satellite photo (well nearly). The crest was fairly insignificant in comparison. If your only impression was of a bolder brighter crest with an orange core then you were almost certainly looking at a male goldcrest in "showoff" mode (which is pretty cool anyway).