BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Goldcrest

GOLDCREST
Regulus regulus

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: amber (>50% population decline, but data possibly unrepresentative)

Long-term trend

England: fluctuating, with no long-term trend

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Goldcrest abundance is affected strongly by winter weather, and the strong increase in the species' CBC/BBS index up to the mid 1970s can be interpreted as recovery from the cold winters of the early 1960s. The subsequent decline has resulted in the recent addition of the species to the amber list, although it only meets the criterion because 1975, the start of the relevant period, was the peak year of the population index. Trends over longer and shorter periods all suggest population increase, and the long-term trend looks very much like what would be obtained had a series of damped oscillations followed an earlier perturbation. BBS has recorded substantial increases in all UK countries except Wales, where a significant decline has been registered. CBC had relatively poor coverage of conifer plantations, in which Goldcrests occur at increasing densities as the trees mature. The increase in area of such prime habitat has therefore been poorly reflected in the long-term trend.

Table of population changes for Goldcrest

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
CBC/BBS England	35	1967-2002	158	45	-21	205
	25	1977-2002	192	-29	-51	-9	>25
	10	1992-2002	359	66	30	85
	5	1997-2002	476	20	11	28
BBS UK	9	1994-2003	553	57	44	71
BBS England	9	1994-2003	380	51	36	68
BBS Scotland	9	1994-2003	70	112	61	180
BBS Wales	9	1994-2003	69	-24	-39	-4
BBS N.Ireland	9	1994-2003	31	145	37	336

Productivity information is not currently available for this species


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006