Common firecrest
Regulus ignicapilla (Temminck, 1820)
The common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), also called the firecrest, is a bird in the family Regulidae, within the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a tiny bird, with an adult body mass from 5.35 to 5.8 g (representative value 5.6 g) and a wingspan of 14 cm.
Quick facts about the common firecrest
This migratory, perching bird lives in forest and is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level. Its eggs are incubated for 15 days, with a clutch size of 8.5 and 1.5 clutches per year, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 5.35 g – 5.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 14 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 5.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 15 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common firecrest?
Photos of the common firecrest
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the common firecrest live?
Not recorded
What is the common firecrest?
The common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), also known as the firecrest, is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. It breeds in most of temperate Europe and northwestern Africa, and is partially migratory, with birds from central Europe wintering to the south and west of their breeding range. Firecrests in the Balearic Islands and north Africa are widely recognised as a separate subspecies, but the population on Madeira, previously also treated as a subspecies, is now treated as a distinct species, the Madeira firecrest, Regulus madeirensis. A fossil ancestor of the firecrest has been identified from a single wing bone.
This kinglet is greenish above and has whitish underparts. It has two white wingbars, a black eye stripe and a white supercilium. The head crest, orange in the male and yellow in the female, is displayed during breeding, and gives rise to the English and scientific names for the species. This bird superficially resembles the goldcrest, which largely shares its European range, but the firecrest's bronze shoulders and strong face pattern are distinctive. The song is a repetition of high thin notes, slightly lower-pitched than those of its relative.
The common firecrest breeds in broadleaved or coniferous woodland and gardens, building its compact, three-layered nest on a tree branch. Seven to twelve eggs are incubated by the female alone. Both parents feed the chicks, which fledge 22–24 days after hatching. This kinglet is constantly on the move and frequently hovers as it searches for insects to eat, and in winter it is often found with flocks of tits. Despite some possible local declines, the species is not the subject of significant conservation concerns owing to its large European population and an expansion of its range over the last century. It may be hunted and killed by birds of prey, and can carry parasites. It is possible that this species was the original "king of the birds" in European folklore.
From the Wikipedia article “Common firecrest” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_firecrest&oldid=1383968438), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the common firecrest sound like?
Is the common firecrest endangered?
The common firecrest is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common firecrest classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyRegulidae
- genusRegulus
- SpeciesRegulus ignicapilla (Temminck, 1820)
Synonyms Orchilus ignicapillus, Regulus ignicapillus, Regulus ignicapillus ignapillus, Regulus mystaceus, Regulus nilssonii, Regulus pyrocephalus, Regulus pyrocephalus, Sylvia ignicapilla
Other names and names in other languages (79)
- FirecrestEnglish
- صعو أحمر العرفArabic
- Reipetit cellutoAragonese
- reyínAsturian
- chilínAsturian
- pimpínAsturian
- yerbatínAsturian
- Чырвонагаловы каралёкBelarusian
- Чырвонагаловы каролёкBelarusian
- Червеноглаво кралчеBulgarian
- Dreolan kabell flammBreton
- BruelCatalan
- bruel eurasiàticCatalan
- ReietóCatalan
- Якшар вуян кож кӓзӓляMari
- králíček ohnivýCzech
- Dryw PenfflamgochWelsh
- Drywod PenfflamgochWelsh
- Rødtoppet FuglekongeDanish
- SommergoldhähnchenGerman
- SommergoldhänchenGerman
- ΠυροβασιλίσκοςGreek
- ΠυρροβασιλίσκοςGreek
- fajroverta regoloEsperanto
- Reyezuelo listadoSpanish
- lääne-pöialpoissEstonian
- Erregetxo bekainzuriBasque
- Erregetxo bekainzuriaBasque
- تاجآتشی معمولیPersian
- tulipäähippiäinenFinnish
- Reyðknokkutur títlingskongurFaroese
- Rey›knokkutan títlingskongurFaroese
- Roitelet triple-bandeauFrench
- Roitelet à triple bandeauFrench
- SomerfögelkönangNorthern Frisian
- FjoertûfkeWestern Frisian
- LasairchíorIrish
- Lasairchíor choiteannIrish
- CrìonagScottish Gaelic
- Estreliña riscadaGalician
- Drean aileyManx
- מלכילון לבן-גבותHebrew
- מלכילון לבן-גבהHebrew
- tüzesfejű királykaHungarian
- Կարմրագլուխ արքայիկArmenian
- GullkollurIcelandic
- FiorrancinoItalian
- マミジロキクイタダキJapanese
- ПсейбзуKabardian
- TangrybenCornish
- FeierkäppchenLuxembourgish
- baltabruvis nykštukasLithuanian
- sārtgalvītisLatvian
- црвеноглаво кралчеMacedonian
- VuurgoudhaanDutch
- vuurgoudhaantjeDutch
- raudtoppfuglekongeNorwegian Nynorsk
- rødtoppfuglekongeNorwegian
- zniczek (zwyczajny)Polish
- ZniczekPolish
- estrelinha-realPortuguese
- Auşel sprâncenatRomanian
- Aușel sprâncenatRomanian
- Красноголовый королёкRussian
- DolloailoddegonagasNorthern Sami
- dollagahpirNorthern Sami
- dollaoailoddegonagasNorthern Sami
- Tassmi n ifrganTachelhit
- králik ohnivohlavýSlovak
- rdečeglavi kraljičekSlovenian
- Vatroglavi kraljićSerbian
- Ватроглави краљићSerbian
- brandkronad kungsfågelSwedish
- Sürmeli ÇalıkuşuTurkish
- Sürmeli AltıntavukçukTurkish
- золотомушка червоночубаUkrainian
- Djoleye flamineteWalloon
- 火冠戴菊Chinese
- 普通戴菊Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common firecrest
Other species in the same genus Regulus.
Goldcrest
Regulus regulus
Golden crowned kinglet
Regulus satrapa
Madeiracrest
Regulus madeirensis
Flamecrest
Regulus goodfellowi
CompareCommon firecrest vs GoldcrestCommon firecrest vs Golden crowned kingletCommon firecrest vs MadeiracrestCommon firecrest vs Flamecrest
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common firecrest?
The common firecrest is a bird in the family Regulidae and the order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds.
How heavy is the common firecrest?
The common firecrest weighs 5.6 g, with reported adult body mass from 5.35 to 5.8 g. Its wingspan is 14 cm.
What does the common firecrest eat?
The common firecrest is an invertivore, which places it at the carnivore trophic level.
What habitat does the common firecrest live in?
The common firecrest lives in forest, where it has a perching lifestyle. It is a migratory bird.
Is the common firecrest endangered?
No. The common firecrest is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the common firecrest live?
The common firecrest has a lifespan of 5.6 years.
How many eggs does the common firecrest lay?
The common firecrest has a clutch size of 8.5, with 1.5 clutches per year. Its eggs are incubated for 15 days.
Who named the common firecrest?
The common firecrest, Regulus ignicapilla, was named by (Temminck, 1820).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-firecrest
“Common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-firecrest.
@misc{common_firecrest_2026,
title = {Common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-firecrest},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}