I searched for it a bit halfheartedly, as this cypress is massive, but the Goldcrest just moved onto a smaller one. It fed, as Goldcrest do, in a rush, never stopping, but it did stop for a moment to utter his song and I managed to capture it.
This is a sonogram from the wonderful website Xenocanto of a Goldcrest song:
That song is almost at the edge of my hearing so doubt if I would hear it in the wild.
ReplyDeleteI feel lucky I can still hear it, I have stopped being able to hearing some cricket songs, so I am not sure how long I'll be able to.
DeleteIs it true that they have to eat at least one insect every 20 minutes, and will die in an hour if unfed? If so, it's enough to make anyone bustle about.
ReplyDeleteI Ralph. I do not know. Surely they must sleep at night, but during the day, even 20 minutes seems too long. Having said that, they can migrate from Northern Europe over the North Sea, and they probably need to fatten up before that, as I don't expect them to find much food on the way. They seem to find tiny little insects on crevices in the bark of tree branches, possibly springtails, spiders, aphids, caterpillars and book-lice
DeleteLove this! Goldcrests were my favourite birds when I was little (4 or 5 years old), because I thought they looked so pretty in my book on birds. I've never seen one in real life though, let alone heard one! Now I know what to look for if I hear this song. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Vilgunn, Thank you for your comment and pleased to be of help. I hope you are lucky and see and hear your Goldcrest soon!
ReplyDelete