Perching Birds

Golden-crowned Kinglet  Regulus satrapa

Family: Kinglets, Regulidae

Audio: Martyn Stewart, © Naturesound.org

An estimated 25% of the species' North American population breeds within the Boreal Forest.

Description  3 1/2 -4" (9-10 cm). Tiny. Olive green above, paler below, with 2 dull-white wing bars. Eyebrow white, crown orange bordered with yellow (adult males) or solid yellow (females and young birds); narrow black line separates crown patch from white eyebrow. Ruby-crowned Kinglet lacks the conspicuous face pattern.

Habitat  Dense, old conifer stands; also deciduous forests and thickets in winter.

Nesting  8 or 9 cream-colored eggs, speckled with brown, in a large mass of moss, lichens, and plant down, with a small feather-lined cup at the top. Nest is suspended between several twigs in a densely needled conifer, less than 60' (18 m) above the ground.

Voice  Thin, wiry, ascending ti-ti-ti, followed by tumbling chatter.

Range  Breeds from Alaska to Alberta and from Manitoba to Newfoundland, and south to southern California and Southwest, and to Michigan, Massachusetts, and in mountains to North Carolina. Winters from southern Canada south to southern California, Arizona, Gulf Coast, and northern Florida.

Discussion  Outside the breeding season, these tiny, insectivorous, energetic birds are frequently seen in the company of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, creepers, nuthatches, and chickadees. These feeding flocks move as a group through the trees, searching out the greatest abundance of hibernating insects and larvae.