Nature Table: The Goldcrest

Goldcrests are quite common birds but they’re not seen very often. 

They’re the smallest Irish bird and spend most of their time in the upper foliage of tall trees where, despite their rather gaudy eye-stripe, they’re remarkably well camouflaged.

The stripe is yellow, orange and black in the male — females lack the orange bit, though this is hard to spot unless you have the tiny bird in your hand.