Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Regulus calendula

Some of you may have noticed this sometimes-brightly colored visitor showing up in your yards and local areas this time of year. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are a common backyard bird in the Pacific Northwest, and can be found year-round, but we do get an influx of seasonal migrants during their non-breeding season, usually from December to March. Another reason we notice them more as we descend into winter is that the leaves are falling off the trees, meaning smaller, fast birds like this little kinglet are easier to spot.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are one of North America’s smallest songbirds, and are smaller than a warbler or chickadee. Most of the time, they are just a plain green-gray bird with a white eye-ring and a white bar on the wing. The males have a little trick on their crown, which unfortunately for us, usually stays hidden. Your best chance to see what makes the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, well, ruby-crowned, is to find an excited male singing in the spring or summer.

Many note that this kinglet is easiest to spot among other birds by its characteristic wing-flicking. They move almost constantly, and quickly, and since their crown is usually hidden, their almost-nervous flicking can help you identify them. The male’s song is also distinctive once you learn it. Their loud double-note call can be heard most frequently during migration and breeding season.

You can find Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the lower branches of shrubs and trees, looking almost frantic as they forage. They prefer more forested areas, especially in the summer when they are breeding and nesting. Their nests are well hidden, often near the trunk and up to 30 meters above the ground! This, of course, makes it difficult to gather reproductive data. Sometimes if you spot a flock of warblers foraging, you may spot one or two darting into view.

Did you know? The Ruby-crowned Kinglet may be a tiny bird, but they lay a very large clutch of eggs, up to 12 in a single nest! Although the eggs themselves weigh only about a fiftieth of an ounce, an entire clutch can weigh as much as the female herself.

Photos by: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

-Samantha Zeiner, Friends of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge