BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside

GOLDCREST
Regulus regulus

Conservation listings

Unlisted/Green
Biodiversity Steering Group
Conservation Concern List

Long-term trend

UK: Fluctuating with no long-term trend

Status summary

Goldcrest abundance is affected strongly by winter weather and the strong increase in the species' CBC index up to the mid-1970s probably reflects recovery from the cold winters of the early 1960s. The subsequent decline could reflect habitat deterioration in woodland but it should be noted that the CBC does not cover the Goldcrest's preferred habitat of coniferous woodland well. In addition, the long-term trend looks very much like what would be obtained had a series of damped oscillations led to population stability after an earlier perturbation in abundance. The trend could therefore be driven entirely by the species' internal population dynamics. Recent trends show stability or a shallow increase.

Table of population changes for Goldcrest

Source Period
(yrs) Years Plots
(n) Change
(%) Lower
limit Upper
limit Alert Comment

CBC all habitats 31 1968-1999 95 15 -33 92

25 1974-1999 99 -55 -67 -40 >50

10 1989-1999 89 12 -6 39

5 1994-1999 97 26 14 38

CBC farmland 31 1968-1999 27 138 41 378

25 1974-1999 27 -37 -54 -6 >25

10 1989-1999 23 65 15 178

5 1994-1999 25 74 32 143

CBC woodland 31 1968-1999 53 -13 -58 74

25 1974-1999 57 -56 -74 -33 >50

10 1989-1999 59 4 -17 31

5 1994-1999 65 20 7 35

BBS UK 6 1994-2000 522 87 72 104

BBS England 6 1994-2000 353 65 48 83

BBS Scotland 6 1994-2000 71 154 96 230

BBS Wales 6 1994-2000 66 29 5 59

BBS N.Ireland 6 1994-2000 28 121 21 304 Small sample

The Breeding Bird Survey is jointly funded by BTO, JNCC and RSPB

Productivity information is not currently available for this species

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Crick, H.Q.P., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Leech, D.I., Marchant, J.H.,
Noble, D.G., Raven, M.J., Simpkin, A.P., Thewlis, R.M. and Wernham, C.V. (2002) Breeding Birds in the Wider
Countryside: their conservation status 2001. BTO Research Report No. 278. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

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