Editing Common firecrest (section)

== Distribution and habitat ==

[[File:Mature Cork Oak.jpg|thumb|Cork woodland is favoured for breeding.]]
The common firecrest breeds in lowland [[Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests|broadleaf forest]], preferring [[Quercus suber|cork oak]] and [[alder]] where available, otherwise [[beech]] and [[holly]]. It also uses mixed broadleaf and [[pinophyta|conifer]] woodland, and stands of [[spruce]], [[abies alba|European silver fir]], [[Cedrus|cedar]] and [[pine]]s, often with undergrowth of [[juniper]], [[ivy]] and wild [[rose]]. In drier [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] habitats it is found in conifers, evergreen oak, and mixed woodlands up to {{convert|2800|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name= Baker/> Unlike more specialised birds such as [[Eurasian nuthatch]] and [[Eurasian treecreeper|common treecreeper]], both of which forage on trunks, the crests do not need large woodlands, and their population density is independent of forest size.<ref name="Tellería">{{cite journal|last=Telleria |first=J L |author2=Santos, T |year=1995 |title=Effects of forest fragmentation on a guild of wintering passerines: the role of habitat selection |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=71 |pages=61–67 |url=http://www.ucm.es/info/zoo/bcv/pdf/1995_BiolCons_71_61.pdf |doi=10.1016/0006-3207(94)00021-H |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012051031/http://www.ucm.es/info/zoo/bcv/pdf/1995_BiolCons_71_61.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-12 }}</ref> In winter it is less reliant on conifers than the goldcrest, moving from forest to fringes and scrub. It occurs singly or in pairs, spending much time in the tree canopy, although frequently venturing into bushes and other lower vegetation.<ref name= Baker/> This species can thrive in fairly urban areas, provided that suitable habitat is available in parks or large gardens; population densities in gardens can be comparable with the maximum levels found in natural habitats.<ref name=Palomino>{{cite journal | last= Palomino | first= David | author2= Carrascal, Luis M | year= 2006 | title= Urban influence on birds at a regional scale: A case study with the avifauna of northern Madrid province | journal= Landscape and Urban Planning | volume= 77 | issue= 3 | pages= 276–290 | url= http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/lmcarrascal/pdf/leup2004.pdf | doi= 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.04.003 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080907081825/http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/lmcarrascal/pdf/leup2004.pdf | archive-date= 2008-09-07 }}</ref><ref name= witt>{{cite journal | last= Witt | first= Klaus |author2=Mitschke, Alexander|author3=Luniak, Maciej |date=December 2005| title= A comparison of common breeding bird populations in Hamburg, Berlin and Warsaw | journal = Acta Ornithologica | volume= 40 | issue = 2 | pages= 139–146 | doi = 10.3161/068.040.0209| doi-access= free }}</ref>

The nominate subspecies breeds in Europe from southern England, France, Spain and Portugal east to Belarus, northwestern Ukraine, and Greece, and north to the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] and southern Latvia. There are isolated populations east of the main range in [[Abkhazia]], the [[Crimea]] and Turkey. Its range lies between the {{convert|16|and|24|C|F}} July [[contour line|isotherms]].<ref name=BWP>{{cite book| editor1-last = Snow | editor1-first = David |editor2-last=Perrins|editor2-first=Christopher M| title = The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition (2 volumes) | publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1998| location = Oxford | pages = 1346–1348 |isbn = 978-0-19-850188-6}}</ref> Southern birds are largely resident, unlike northern and eastern populations which are [[bird migration|migratory]], wintering mainly in Mediterranean areas and the far west of Europe from Portugal north to Britain. ''R.&nbsp;i.&nbsp;balearicus'' is resident in the Balearic Islands and the northern parts of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.<ref name= Baker>{{cite book | last = Baker | first = Kevin |title = Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa (Helm Identification Guides) | year = 1997 | publisher = Helm| isbn =978-0-7136-3971-1 |pages = 383–384 | location = London| title-link = Helm Identification Guides }}</ref> This species has been recorded as a [[vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] from Norway, Finland, Estonia, Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon.<ref name =hbw/><ref name="BirdLife">{{cite web | title = BirdLife International Species factsheet: ''Regulus ignicapilla '' | publisher = [[BirdLife International]] | url = http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=112556 | access-date = 4 July 2010}}</ref> In July 2020, it was reported that the common firecrest was now nesting in at least two locations in southern Finland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tulipäähippiäinen liittyi Suomen pesimälinnustoon |trans-title=Common firecrest joins Finland's nesting birds |url=https://www.birdlife.fi/tiedote-20200708/ |website=Birdlife Finland |access-date=8 July 2020 |language=fi}}</ref>