Goldcrest Regulus regulus
Breeding distribution change
Common resident, also passage and winter from north Fenno-Scandia
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Goldcrest maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows where changes occurred in the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, as revealed by the fieldwork for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007) and the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Gains and improvements
Status
Nos tetrads
Absent to present
93
10%
Present to breeding
54
6%
Absent to breeding
51
6%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
94
10%
Breeding in both
102
11%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
97
11%
Breeding to present
128
14%
Breeding to absent
93
10%
Goldcrests are closely associated with coniferous woodlands (but occur also in gardens, parks and broadleaved woodland) and breed from the European Atlantic coast right across Eurasia to eastern China and Japan, being absent only from the far north of Fenno-Scandia and Russia. In Britain they are found throughout except in a few treeless areas in the Scottish Highlands and Islands and in the Fens in England.
Goldcrests, being so small, are particularly vulnerable to cold weather. In Wiltshire the species was almost exterminated by the harsh winter of 1962-63, but by the time of the 1968-72 Breeding Atlas it was back to breeding in 29 of the county’s 33 core 10-km squares and by the turn of the century, following a run of mild winters, it was recorded breeding in all but two squares.
Birds of Wiltshire recorded Goldcrests present in 568 tetrads, with probable or confirmed breeding in 323; WTA2 recorded them in 522 tetrads with breeding in only 207.
The reason for the decline is not clear but was most likely to have resulted from variation in the degree of severity of the preceding winter.
References
The following references are used throughout these species accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007 : Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011” – Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: Bird Atlas 2007-2011: the Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.