How to Identify aGolden-crowned Kinglet
Regulus satrapa · 3.1–4.3 in (8–11 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Olive-green above with a black-bordered crown patch that is yellow at the edges and fiery orange in the centre.
Female
Identical but with a pure yellow crown patch and no orange.
Male photo: Chuck Homler, Focus On Wildlife / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Second photo: DickDaniels (http://theworldbirds.org/) / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Field marks
- Bold black-and-white face stripes
- Bright yellow or orange crown edged in black
- Two white wingbars
- Extremely small and restless, often hovering at branch tips
Similar species
What it sounds like
A very high, thin "tsee-tsee-tsee" so high-pitched many adults cannot hear it.
Behaviour that gives it away
Survives nights well below freezing at only six grams, huddling together and burning fat reserves laid down each day.
Habitat & range
Conifer forest in summer; mixed woods, parks and yards across much of the country in winter.
When you'll see it
Depending on where in North America you are, it is present all year and a winter visitor.
What it eats
Tiny insects, spiders and their eggs gleaned from conifer needles.
Did you know?
Weighing about as much as two pennies, it survives nights of -40 degrees in northern forests.
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