| Kinglets is an
in-your-face songbird By Jay V. Huner |
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| Kinglets arrive in our
region in mid-October and depart around mid-April. The
name fits the Ruby-crowned Kinglet very well as this tiny
bird, olive green above, yellowish below with prominent
white eye rings and wing bars, is an in your face
songbird. It truly acts like the king of heavy brush
areas despite being one of our smallest birds.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets will often appear very near people
without any provocation chattering away and flitting
about. Agitated males display a brilliant ruby crown that
is normally covered with greenish feathers. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet's cousin is aptly named the Golden-crowned Kinglet. The Golden-crowned Kinglet looks, initially, like the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. However, its color is a lighter green; it has a white eye line bordered by black; but, unlike the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the Golden-crowned Kinglet has a brilliant golden crown, hence its name. The center of the male's crown is a brilliant golden-orange surrounded by yellow while the female's crown is simply yellow. The Golden-crowned Kinglet is much more reclusive and uncommon compared to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I find them high in trees but flitting around just like their cousins. Their calls are so high-pitched that I simply cannot hear them. Many readers feed birds in their backyards and provide seeds, suet, and water. Ruby-crowned Kinglets quickly find suet feeders in the fall and will use them throughout their southern sojourns. I have yet to see a Golden-crowned Kinglet anywhere around a feeder but they will come to areas where birds are being fed. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are so common and visible that the late Professor George Lowery, Jr. took the time to estimate their winter numbers in Louisiana. In "Louisiana Birds" he stated "....In our 49,000 square miles of land there must be, on the average, at least one to every 25 acres. This is surely a conservative estimate and indicates a winter population in Louisiana of over one million...." Walk along any line of brush, especially a fence line in winter and you are sure to be fussed at by a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. You don't have to be a birder to find yourself staring at one of these little bulldogs. They are commonly found feeding on tiny insects in the company of mixed flocks of songbirds including chickadees, titmice, wrens, and warblers. As spring approaches, male Ruby-crowned Kinglets begin to sing, practicing for spring nesting in their northern boreal forest nesting grounds. According to Professor Lowery, "....The song is a jumbled, repetitious series of soft, pleasing sounds...." There is one wintering bird that you might confuse with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the Orange-crowned Warbler. These birds are greener above and yellower below than the kinglet and obviously larger. We have two to three Ruby-crowned Kinglets that winter in our yard on Cotile Lake near Boyce, Louisiana. They regularly come to our suet feeder but have to step aside when the "larger", resident warbler wants to eat! Interestingly, you have to pretty much hold an Orange-crowned Warbler in your hand to find its orange crown! But, that's another story! Jay V. Huner |
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