Golden-crowned kinglet

Appearance

Adults are olive-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, with thin bills and short tails. They have white wing bars, a black stripe through the eyes and a yellow crown surrounded by black. The adult male has an orange patch in the middle of the yellow crown. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with a browner back and without the yellow crown. This is one of the smallest passerines in North America. Its length, at 8 to 11 cm, is probably the shortest of any American passerine. However, its weigh, which averages around 5.9 g, with a range of 4 to 7.8 g, is marginally more on average than the long-tailed Bushtit and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.

Distribution

Golden-crowned kinglet is a widespread North American bird, breeding in many US states, and over much of Canada, and wintering across much of the continent south to Florida, Texas and Mexico. It also occurs in isolated mountain ranges in southern Mexico and Guatemala, where it is represented by separate subspecies.

Behavior

They forage actively in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects, insect eggs and spiders.

They give a series of high-pitched calls on a single note, and tend not to fear human approach.

Habitat

Their breeding habitat is coniferous forests across Canada, the northeastern and western United States, Mexico and Central America. They nest in a well-concealed hanging cup suspended from a conifer branch.

These birds migrate to the United States. Some birds are permanent residents in coastal regions and in the southern parts of their range. Northern birds remain further north in winter than the ruby-crowned kinglet.