# Goldcrest (*Regulus regulus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/goldcrest  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is a bird in the family Regulidae and order Passeriformes, placed in the subgroup of songbirds and other perching birds. It is a tiny bird, with an adult body mass of 5.54 g (up to 5.85 g) and a wingspan of 14 cm. The goldcrest is a migratory, perching invertivore of forest habitat, with a geographic range of 13,210,000 km². It lays 8.5 eggs per clutch with an incubation period of 15.5 days, reaches sexual maturity at 364.6 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 5.54 g – 5.85 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 14 cm |
| Lifespan | 7 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | arthropods |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 15.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 8.5 – 9.9 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.75 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Regulidae
- genus: Regulus
- species: *Regulus regulus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Motacilla regulus*, *Regulus cristatus*, *Regulus flavicapillus*

## Common questions

### How big is a goldcrest?

The goldcrest is a tiny bird with an adult body mass of 5.54 g, up to 5.85 g, and a wingspan of 14 cm.

### What does the goldcrest eat?

The goldcrest is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.

### Is the goldcrest endangered?

No. The goldcrest is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

### How long does a goldcrest live?

The goldcrest has a lifespan of 7 years.

### How many eggs does a goldcrest lay?

The goldcrest lays 8.5 eggs per clutch, up to 9.9, with 1.75 clutches per year. The egg incubation period is 15.5 days.

### Does the goldcrest migrate?

Yes, the goldcrest is migratory.

### What kind of animal is the goldcrest?

The goldcrest is a bird of the family Regulidae, in the subgroup of songbirds and other perching birds.

### Who named the goldcrest?

The goldcrest, Regulus regulus, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Goldcrest (Regulus regulus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/goldcrest