Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Regulus calendulaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Kinglets (Regulidae)

General

Ruby-crowned Kinglet: Medium-sized kinglet with olive-green upperparts and gray-washed, pale yellow underparts. Head has inconspicuous tuft of red crown feathers and white spectacles. Wings are dark with two white bars. Tail is slightly notched and has white edges. Female lacks red crown.

Range and Habitat

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: Breeds from Alaska east across Canada to Newfoundland, south to southern California and New Mexico in the west, and to the Great Lakes region and northern New England in the east. Spends winters south from southern British Columbia and California across the southern tier of states to southern New England. Preferred habitats include coniferous and deciduous forests.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"tsee-tsee", "liberty-liberty-liberty", "je-dtit", "cack-cack"

Interesting Facts

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet was described in 1766 by Linnaeus; its generic name is Latin for 'little king'.
It differs sufficiently in its voice and plumage from other kinglets that it is occasionally afforded its own genus, Corthylio.
They feed lower in the canopy than the Golden-crowned and characteristically hovers above a twig looking for caterpillars, aphids, and other insects.
A group of kinglets has many collective nouns, including a "castle", "court", "princedom", and "dynasty" of kinglets.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet: Medium kinglet, olive-green upperparts and gray-washed, pale yellow underparts. Head has inconspicuous tuft of red crown feathers, white spectacles. Wings are dark with two white bars. Tail is slightly notched and has white edges. Weak fluttering flight on shallow wing beats.

● Song: "tsee-tsee", "liberty-liberty-liberty", "je-dtit", "cack-cack"

● Foraging & Feeding: Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: Diet consists of insects, insect eggs, fruits, and seeds; forages by gleaning tree trunks, branches, and dense foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: Five to eleven creamy white eggs splotched with brown or gray are laid in a nest suspended from twigs below a sheltering and concealing horizontal branch. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: Golden-crowned Kinglet has a white stripe above the eye, orange crown patch (male), and paler underparts. Hutton's Vireo is larger, stockier, and has a stouter bill.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: Breeds from Alaska east across Canada to Newfoundland, south to southern California and New Mexico in the west, and to the Great Lakes region and northern New England in the east. Spends winters south from southern British Columbia and California across the southern tier of states to southern New England. Preferred habitats include coniferous and deciduous forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationWidespread

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.2 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America