Golden-crowned Kinglet

Secure Shopping

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglets are exceptionally tolerant of humans and have occasionally been observed entering cabins; sometimes, they will allow themselves to be touched or even held. Typically, however, they are found foraging high in conifer trees. More of a conifer specialist than the related Ruby-crowned Kinglet (R. calendula), Golden-crowns hang onto the tips of conifer branches and have grooved soles on their feet, like the Goldcrest (R. regulus) of Europe. Golden-crowned Kinglets gather small insects and insect eggs from the tips of branches and tufts of needles.

In the past, Golden-crowned Kinglets bred exclusively in remote boreal fir, hemlock, and spruce forests. In the East the range has been expanding south locally to Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio mostly because of reforestation with spruce plantations in this area. In the West the range extends through mountain conifer forests as far south as Mexico and Guatemala. The highest breeding densities are found in the hemlock forests of British Columbia. During migration and winter these kinglets use more varied habitats and often join foraging flocks of chickadees, titmice, creepers, and woodpeckers.
Golden-crowned Kinglet Range Map

Smaller birds than warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets are often first detected because of their thin, high-pitched calls, which usually consist of one to five notes on a single pitch, zeee, zeee, zeee. A simple song of about a dozen ascending notes sometimes combined with a warbled ending is heard on breeding grounds. Both sexes sing during the construction of the nest. Males defend their territories by singing from the dead branches of conifers high above the ground. They are aggressive toward other kinglets, and they also defend their territories against other conifer nesters such as Blackburnian Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, and Chipping Sparrows. Agitated Golden-crowns display by "cresting" toward their rivals, bowing toward the threat while flicking their wings and tails and erecting and spreading their crown feathers. Kinglets also sing and crest when faced with predators such as red squirrels and jays.

Golden-crowned Kinglet nests are globular, with a small opening at the top, and are most often placed about 50 feet high in a spruce or other conifer. The nest of moss, lichens, spider webs, feathers, and twigs is suspended from a horizontal branch close to the trunk and contains eight to nine eggs. There may be two broods per season.

Description: Golden-crowned Kinglets are tiny birds (approximately 3.25 to 4.50 inches in length) with short tails, a bold facial pattern, and conspicuous crown patches. Males have orange crown patches bordered with yellow and black; females' crown patches are all yellow within black borders. Below the patch is a white superciliary line, a black line through the eye, and whitish cheeks. Upperparts are olive green, underparts pale grayish, and the wings have two white wing bars. There is a bold dark bar across the base of the secondary feathers below the lower wing bar. The short bill and legs are black, and the feet are yellow.

Golden-crowned Kinglets can survive very cold temperatures, down to 25 degrees below zero, by constantly foraging. To survive nights with even colder temperatures, they roost together to retain body heat, sometimes using empty squirrel nests or tree cavities.

Visit Shaw Creek Bird Supply to see our selection of Golden-crowned Kinglet Feeders.