Taxonomy
The kinglets are a small group of birds sometimes included in the Old World warblers, but frequently given family status, especially as recent research shows that despite superficial similarities, they are phylogenetically remote from the warblers. The names of the family, Regulidae, and its only genus, Regulus, are derived from the Latin regulus, a diminutive of rex, a king. The Goldcrest was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae in 1758 as Motacilla regulus (characterised as remigibus secundaras exteriori margine flavis, medio albis). It was moved to the warbler genus Sylvia by English naturalist John Latham in 1790, and to its current genus by French zoologist Georges Cuvier in 1800.
The relationships of the Flamecrest or Taiwan Firecrest (Regulus goodfellowi) of Taiwan have also been a source of much debate. It is sometimes viewed as a race of Firecrest, but its territorial song resembles those of the Himalayan races of Goldcrest, and genetic data show that it is the closest relative of that species, and, despite its alternative name, only distantly related to the Firecrest. The Flamecrest diverged from the Goldcrest 3.0–3.1 mya (million years ago).
Read more about this topic: Goldcrest