Common Firecrest

Regulus ignicapilla · eBird.org

Info

Common name: Common Firecrest Scientific name: Regulus ignicapilla

The common firecrest is one of Europe’s smallest birds, rivalling the goldcrest at just 9–10 cm and 4–7 grams. Despite its tiny size, it is unmistakable at close range: a fiery orange-and-yellow crown stripe (raised in display), a bold white supercilium, and bronze-green shoulder patches that distinguish it clearly from the plainer goldcrest.

The firecrest is a breeding resident across much of Iberia and the western Mediterranean, preferring mixed and coniferous woodland where it forages restlessly through the canopy, gleaning insects from needles and leaves. Its call — a thin, high-pitched zi-zi-zi — is easily missed among the general woodland noise and is precisely the kind of sound that Merlin’s microphone is designed to catch.

Iberia holds some of the densest firecrest populations in Europe, and the wooded hillsides around Guimarães are ideal habitat.

Song & Call

Recording XC788686 via xeno-canto.org — Creative Commons licensed.

First recorded: 26 May 2026 · Cruz de Argola, Guimarães, Portugal