Regulus ignicapillus; Print; The common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla) also known as the firecrest; is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. It breeds in most of temperate Europe and northwestern Africa; and is partially migratory; with birds from central Europe wintering to the south and west of their breeding range. Firecrests in the Balearic Islands and north Africa are widely recognised as a separate subspecies; but the population on Madeira; previously also treated as a subspecies; is now treated as a distinct species; the Madeira firecrest; Regulus madeirensis. A fossil ancestor of the firecrest has been identified from a single wing bone.; 1700-1880