Editing Flamecrest

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Speciesbox
 | status              = LC
 | status_system       = IUCN3.1
 | status_ref          = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Regulus goodfellowi'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22712580A94337262 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22712580A94337262.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
 | image               = RegulusGoodfellowiLodge.jpg
 | taxon               = Regulus goodfellowi
 | authority           = [[William Robert Ogilvie-Grant|Ogilvie-Grant]], 1906
}}

The '''flamecrest''' ('''''Regulus goodfellowi'''''), also known as '''Taiwan firecrest''', is a species of [[bird]] in the [[kinglet]] [[family (biology)|family]], Regulidae. It is [[endemism|endemic]] to the mountains of Taiwan.

==Description==
The flamecrest is a small [[passerine|perching bird]], resembling a [[warbler]]. Its length is only {{convert|9|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} and weight about 7&nbsp;g,<ref>{{cite journal|journal= Global Ecology and Biogeography|year= 2005| volume= 14 |issue= 4|pages=299–306 |doi= 10.1111/j.1466-822x.2005.00159.x| title= Energy flux, body size and density in relation to bird species richness along an elevational gradient in Taiwan|author=Ding, Tzung-Su|author2=Hsiao-Wei Yuan|author3= Shu Geng|author4=Yao-Sung Lin|author5=Pei-Fen Lee|name-list-style=amp| url= http://www.aseanbiodiversity.info/Abstract/51010220.pdf| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063049/http://www.aseanbiodiversity.info/Abstract/51010220.pdf| url-status= usurped| archive-date= 4 March 2016}}</ref> making it the smallest of all Taiwan's endemic bird species, and the smallest and most colourful member of its family in the world.

The top of its head is yellow and orange, with black crown stripes. White feathers encircling the black eye-patches give it the appearance of having two [[black eye]]s. The most distinguishing characteristic is the orange-yellow crest on top of the head, for which it is named.<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofb1620190507brit#page/n147/mode/1up|author=Ogilvie-Grant, W R| year =1906 | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=16 |page= 122|title= 125th meeting, 20 June 1906}}</ref><!-- need to fix the citation info --> Females have the crown stripe pure yellow while males have an orange centre to it. When excited the male erects the crest. The supercilium is very broad and the lores and forehead are whitish. There is a narrow short black malar stripe. The chin is whitish and the throat, ear-coverts and sides of neck are grey. The mantle is green while the rump and flanks are yellow. The centre of the belly is buff. The wings have broad white covert tips forming a wing bar. The tarsi are pinkish. They have a high-pitched ''see-see-see'' call and the song consists of a series of high notes.<ref>{{cite book|page=388|title=Birds of East Asia|author=Brazil, Mark|publisher=London: Christopher Helm |year=2009}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Flamecrest (Regulus goodfellowi).jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Taiwan_firecrest_01.jpg|thumb]]
The kinglets are a small group of birds sometimes included in the [[Old World warbler]]s, but frequently given family status,<ref name = BB852 >{{cite journal |last= Monroe |first= Burt L. |date=February 1992 |title= The new DNA-DNA avian classification: What's it all about? |journal= British Birds |volume=85 |issue= 2|pages=53–61 }}</ref> especially as recent research showed that, despite superficial similarities, the crests are taxonomically remote from the warblers.<ref name= Barker>{{cite journal | last= Barker | first= F Keith |author2=Barrowclough, George F |author3=Groth, Jeff G | year = 2002 | title= A phylogenetic hypothesis for passerine birds: taxonomic and biogeographic implications of an analysis of nuclear DNA sequence data  | journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B | volume= 269  | pages= 295&ndash;308 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2001.1883 | pmid=11839199 | pmc=1690884 | issue=1488}}</ref><ref name= Spicer>{{cite journal | last= Spicer | first= Greg S |author2=Dunipace, Leslie | year= 2004 | title= Molecular phylogeny of songbirds (Passerifor-mes) inferred from mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences  | journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume= 30 | issue= 2 | pages= 325&ndash;335 | url = http://online.sfsu.edu/~gs/spicer/pages/spicerpdf/spicerdunipace04.pdf| doi =  10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00193-3 | pmid=14715224}}</ref> The names of the family Regulidae, and the genus ''Regulus'', are derived from the [[Latin]] ''regulus'', a diminutive of ''rex'', "a king",<ref name = Chambers>{{cite book | editor-last = Brookes| editor-first = Ian | title = The Chambers Dictionary, ninth edition | year =2006 | publisher = Chambers | location = Edinburgh | pages = 223, 735, 1277 | isbn = 978-0-550-10185-3| title-link = Chambers Dictionary }}</ref> and refer to the characteristic orange or yellow crests of adult kinglets. The Taiwan Firecrest was formally described by Scottish [[ornithology|ornithologist]] [[William Robert Ogilvie-Grant|William Ogilvie-Grant]] in 1906 from the writings of English explorer and ornithologist, [[Walter Goodfellow]], who is commemorated in the binomial name.<ref name= ibis1912>{{cite journal | last= Ogilvie-Grant | first= W E |date=October 1912  | title= XXXII.—Further Notes on the Birds of the Island of Formosa   | journal= Ibis  | volume= 54 | issue = 4  | pages= 643&ndash;657 | doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1912.tb05312.x|url=https://archive.org/stream/ibis961912190712brit#page/646/mode/2up }}</ref>

The flamecrest has sometimes been viewed as a race of firecrest, but its territorial song resembles those of the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] races of goldcrest, and genetic data shows that it is closely related to that species, and only distantly to the firecrest.<ref name= flamecrest>{{cite journal | last= Päckert | first= Martin |author2=Martens, Jochen |author3=Severinghaus, Lucia Liu | year=2008 | title= The Taiwan Firecrest (''Regulus goodfellowi'') belongs to the goldcrest assemblage (''Regulus regulus'' s. l.): evidence from mitochondrial DNA and the territorial song of the Regulidae  | journal= Journal of Ornithology | volume= 150 | issue = 1 | pages= 205–220 | doi = 10.1007/s10336-008-0335-5 | s2cid= 5626256 }}</ref> The flamecrest lineage diverged from that of the goldcrest 3.0–3.1&nbsp;mya.<ref name=erfurt>{{cite book|last1=Päckert|first1=Martin|last2=Martens|first2=Jochen|last3=Sun|first3=Yue-Hua|last4=Tietze|first4=Dieter Thomas|year=2009|chapter-url=http://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/tietze/pub/1056.pdf|chapter=Phylogeography and the evolutionary time-scale of passerine radiations in the Sino-Himalayan region (Aves: Passeriformes)|pages=71–80|editor1-last=Hartmann|editor1-first=Matthias|editor2-last=Weipert|editor2-first=Jörg|title=Biodiversität und Naturausstattung im Himalaya/Biodiversity and natural heritage of the Himalaya III|location=Erfurt|publisher=Verein der Freunde & Förderer des Naturkundemuseums Erfurt|isbn=978-3-00-027117-5|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614015551/http://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/tietze/pub/1056.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
It usually inhabits [[evergreen]] trees in [[coniferous forest]]s over 2,000&nbsp;m above sea level, though it is commonest above 2,500&nbsp;m and ranges upward to 3,700&nbsp;m. Mountains it inhabits include [[Alishan Range|Alishan]], [[Da Yu Ling]], [[Hehuanshan]], [[Yu Shan]], and the higher areas of [[Anmashan]]. They prefer [[conifers]] in which to forage, and are usually found in the forest canopy, but will sometimes venture into lower vegetation.

An analysis of the distribution of Taiwan's 17 endemic bird species, using data from bird surveys conducted from 1993 to 2004, classified the firecrest as uncommon (along with the [[Formosan magpie]], [[Taiwan bush warbler]], [[yellow tit]] and [[Taiwan barwing]]). It found that the flamecrest occurred in high- and mid-altitude coniferous forests, and in high-altitude [[broad-leaved tree|broad-leaved]] mixed forests, mainly at 2000–3600&nbsp;m above sea level. The sites where it was recorded had an average altitude of about 2550&nbsp;m, the highest of all the endemic birds. Its habitats had the coldest mean temperature and lowest warmth index of all 17 endemics, as well as the highest annual rainfall for the five uncommon species, though its distribution regarding vegetation and human disturbance was similar to those of the others.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ko Chia-Ying |author2=Lin Ruey-Shing |author3=Lee Pei-Fen |year=2010 |title=Macrohabitat Characteristics and Distribution Hotspots of Endemic Bird Species in Taiwan |journal=Taiwania |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=216–227 |url=http://tai2.ntu.edu.tw/taiwania/pdf/tai.2010.55.3.216.pdf |access-date=2 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718024806/http://tai2.ntu.edu.tw/taiwania/pdf/tai.2010.55.3.216.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Behaviour==
Flamecrests are active and restless birds, hopping and fluttering about in the canopy. These lively [[songbird]]s are mainly solitary but will move around actively in small, loose flocks of their own species as well as with [[coal tit]]s and [[Eurasian nuthatch]]es. The flight is weak and whirring. Their breeding biology is poorly known.

===Feeding===
The flamecrest is primarily an [[insectivore]]. The birds may be seen feeding on [[insect]]s and their larvae on the branches and leaf sheathes of trees in coniferous forests, hovering and [[gleaning]] from leaf to stem. Weeds and berries may be taken occasionally. A study of the [[foraging]] ecology of alpine forest birds on [[Pinophyta|conifers]] in the [[Taroko National Park]] found that, when compared with [[Eurasian nuthatch]]es, [[coal tit]]s, [[green-backed tit]]s and [[black-throated tit]]s, flamecrests were the most generalised foragers, utilising almost all of the [[crown (botany)|crown]] of a tree, rather than specialising in parts of it as with the other species, with which it associates in [[mixed-species foraging flock]]s during the non-breeding season.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chen Chao-Chieh |author2=Wang Ying |year=2008 |title=Spatial Use of Conifers by Five Alpine Forest Birds in Taroko National Park, Taiwan |journal=特有生物研究 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=1–12 |url=http://tesri.coa.gov.tw/files/tesri_protect/176/08791261_pdf.pdf |access-date=2 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830165604/http://tesri.coa.gov.tw/files/tesri_protect/176/08791261_pdf.pdf |archive-date=30 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Voice===
Flamecrests have fine, shrill and high-pitched calls, ''zi zi yi''. Although noisy at close range, the voice is soft and does not carry far.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web | title = BirdLife International Species factsheet: ''Regulus goodfellowi '' | publisher =BirdLife International | url = http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=7168 | access-date = 8 November 2010}}

{{Kinglets}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q716252}}

[[Category:Regulus (bird)]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Taiwan]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1906]]
[[Category:Taxa named by William Robert Ogilvie-Grant]]